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  How does Egypt create dreams for attracting visitors ?

Mr. Abdul-Fattah El-SABBAHY - Tourism Ministry, Kairo, Egypt

 

Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to be here as part of this conference on tourism. I especially want to thank Prof. Keller for inviting me to participate. At any time I would be happy to talk with you individually about tourism in Egypt. Now I would like to introduce you quickly to the country of Egypt, and its current resources and future possibilities for tourism. Then I would like to share with you some of the plans, or dreams, of the Egyptian Tourism Ministry to develop and expand tourism in Egypt. Then, at the end I’d like to share with you some slides, to give you an idea of the range of places and monuments available in Egypt.

Egypt has a wide range of geographical areas, and matching with this a wide expanse of history. Egypt is made of three basic areas: the Eastern Desert with the Sinai, the Western Desert with the Mediterranean coast, and the Nile Valley. The Eastern Desert and Sinai have a long Red Sea coastline, and the areas of Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai, and Hurghada on the Egyptian coast much farther south are being extensively developed with luxury hotels and resorts. Diving is a particular attraction to visitors at these two sites.

The Western Desert contains the oases of Egypt, and particularly Bahriya Oasis and Siwa Oasis are drawing ever more numbers of tourists. Siwa Oasis is the farthest east, and was the famous site of the temple that Alexander the Great journeyed to the consult the oracle of Zeus-Amun. The coast of the Mediterranean in this area is undergoing extensive development for summer chalets, which now reach as far west as Alamain. Of course, the coastal city of Alexandria where this coastline begins has been much in the news lately with the opening of the great, new Library of Alexandria. This complex will undoubtedly serve as a wonderful conference center in the future.

When a tourist comes to Egypt they usually start touring the Nile valley in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Then, there are almost 1000 kilometers of the Nile valley filled with antiquities sites to visit. I will show you some of these with the slides. A tourist can fly, drive or take a Nile cruise. The Nile cruises operate between the cities of Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt.

It might be a good idea now, to give you a quick overview of the historical periods which have contributed monuments to Egypt. There is 3000 years of ancient Egyptian pharaonic history, beginning roughly in 3100 BC, and continuing until the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC when the Graeco-Roman period of history begins. Then, Egypt converted to Christianity with the rest of the Roman Empire. The Christian culture and language of Egypt is referred to as Coptic. In 642 AD Egypt is taken by the Arabs, and thus begins the Islamic Period of Egyptian history. This continues through 1510 AD when Egypt becomes part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Then, of course is the more modern period of Egyptian history beginning with the dynasty of Mohammed Ali and the Egyptian royal family who ruled until the Egyptian Revolution in 1952. So, Egypt has 5000 years of monuments for tourists to see and appreciate.

Right now, Egypt under Dr. Mamdouh Beltagui, the Minister of Tourism, is working hard to achieve a figure of 9.5 million tourist arrivals in the year 2005. This is part of a 5-year plan that began in the year 2000. In that year, 5.5 million tourists visited Egypt. Investments, both Egyptian, 75%, and foreign, 25%, are building the hotels which will handle this number of tourists. Right now, Egypt has 973 hotels, with a capacity of 107, 951 rooms.

The greatest expansion in terms of hotels is along the Red Sea coast. Many Europeans now fly directly to resorts on the Red Sea with charter flights. These tourists enjoy the beaches and diving facilities, and do not go to the Nile valley sites and the antiquities. This beach resort tourism is an entire part of tourism in Egypt by itself, separate from the tourism concerned with visiting monuments and antiquities sites.

Tourism is an important part of the Egyptian economy, and tourist spending affects more than 70 industries and complimentary services. If a record number of 9.5 million tourists is reached in 2005, it will contribute a revenue of 10 billion dollars to the Egyptian economy.

Thank you very much.