Sustainable Tourism Development in Coastal Area-Egypt

Travel and Tourism is the world’s largest industry and creator of jobs across national and regional economies. For developing countries it is one of the biggest income generators and creators of millions of jobs. Jobs generated by travel and tourism are spread across the economy in retail, construction, manufacturing and telecommunications. These jobs employ a large proportion of women, minorities and young people. Tourism can also be one of the most effective drivers for the development of regional economies. These patterns apply to both developed and developing countries. The World Travel and Tourism Councils declared that tourism and related activities contribute 11% to the world's GDP (gross domestic production) in 2002, and the estimates show that it will rising to 12% by 2010.
 

Tourism is expected to grow in the future owing to population growth. According to forecasts by the World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals are almost to be triple over the next two decades, with nearly 1.6 billion tourists visiting foreign countries by the year 2020, and a share of growth ratio of about 6% in the middle east region. Egypt is the largest single destination in the middle east region in terms of international tourists (arrivals with 3.1million tourist in 1996). It's tourism receipts going up from $3,202.0 million in 1996 to about $5,912.3 million in 2002, however Egypt’s share of the middle east market is lower than its fair share based on population compared to the rest of the region.

The paper presents the existing status of the North West Coast including the natural resources, the cultural and demographic characteristics of the residents, and the economic activities. It discusses the concept of sustainable tourism development in the area, which leads to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining culture integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems. This is tomeet the needs of present tourists and host communities whilst protecting and enhancing needs in the future, which leads to increase the national and international visitation to the region.
 

The paper suggests recommendations for the comprehensive sustainable development in the North West Coast of Egypt, and in-desert region behind the coastal strip which is presently home of Bedouin cultural groups.
Key Words:
Sustainable Tourism development, Eco-tourism, Coastal Area, the North West Coast of Egypt, Tourism Planning.

Prof. Dr. Magda Metwally
Head of Architecture& Housing Department, Housing and Building Research Center
E-mail:magda_met@hotmail.com
Dr. Sahar Soliman Abdalla
Lecturer at Architecture& Housing Department, Housing and Building Research Center
E-mail:saharsoliman99@hotmail.com