ECONOMY-EGYPT: Beaches Are Stronger than History

By Adam Morrow Reprint | | Print |

Adam Morrow

CAIRO, Dec 2 2004 (IPS) - Since time immemorial, the pyramids and temples of Egypt have drawn visitors from the farthest corners of the globe. But in the last couple of years the numbers of tourists visiting ancient monuments has fallen, while vacationers have flocked to Red Sea resort destinations in record numbers.

"The major trend in the movement of travel is towards the beach resorts of the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula," says Mohamed Fawzi, director of sales at the Egyptian branch of the Paris-based hotel group Accor.

The Oct. 7 bombings in the Sinai resort towns of Taba and Nuweiba, which targeted Israeli vacationers, have barely slowed Red Sea tourist traffic.

Despite hasty predictions of sectoral ruin and visions of the Luxor massacre of 1997, when 58 tourists were slain by extremist militants, ministry sources reported that cancellations were less than five percent of total reservations in the wake of the attacks.

"Fortunately, the incident affected only Taba, where occupancy has dropped to 25 or 30 percent in the last two months," says Fawzi. "There was some worry that it would affect Sharm el-Sheikh, too, but it only affected Taba."

Tourists from the Jewish state account for less than one percent of total international tourism to Egypt. "The Israeli market dried up, which had been a major feeder market for this destination," says Fawzi. "But I expect them to start coming back by February or March."

Hala Khatib, spokesperson for the ministry of tourism says the fallout from the incident is negligible. "It’s over. The whole thing is over," she says.

The industry is flourishing. According to figures from the ministry of tourism, as of October this year some 6.8 million visitors had come to Egypt, compared to about six million for all of 2003. Industry players are hoping that this year’s total will top the 7.5-million mark.

"We’re doing great," says Hisham Zaazou, director-general of the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism. "We’re booming." Zaazou attributes the sector’s strong performance to a global demand for Middle Eastern vacation spots, and Egypt’s more competitive rates on the international market. "The demand for Middle Eastern destinations has grown," he says. "Also, our prices are cheaper – especially after the devaluation of the Egyptian currency in January of last year. Now, we’re competing with destinations we didn’t compete with before."

Tamer Azzam, who worked over the last year as the head bartender at the Swiss-based Ibrotel in Sharm el-Sheikh says, "It was busy all the time – the restaurants were packed. We had something like 95 percent occupancy for all of last year."

But of all these receipts piling up, only 15 percent come from "cultural tourism" centred on monuments, like the pyramids of Giza or Cairo’s medieval citadel. A whopping 70 percent is accounted for by fun-seeking holidaymakers, looking to relax on the sun-soaked sands of Sinai. The remaining 15 percent are visitors coming for particular occasions such as exhibitions or sporting events.

Khatib says the skewed ratio is a global phenomenon. "Visits to historical sites have declined to less than 20 percent in Egypt, but this is a worldwide trend," she says, referring to recent studies by the World Tourism Organisation. "More people are interested in holiday resorts overlooking the sea – be it the Red Sea or the Mediterranean."

Zaazou agrees that the trend must be viewed within a global context. "International cultural tourism represents only one percent of the tourism cake worldwide. Recreational, or leisure tourism represents 85 percent," he points out. "If you’re concentrating only on this one percent, how can you boost your share of the international market? People associate Egypt with the pyramids, but why concentrate only on this?"

Observers say the reasons for the imbalance are largely economic. After a number of major investment projects in the Red Sea area over the last several years, hotel-room capacity in the Sinai Peninsula has risen dramatically. "That has brought rates down, and competition has become much tougher," says Fawzi. "Therefore, it has become much cheaper to go to Sinai."

Fawzi points out that leisure-oriented vacations do not include the additional costs associated with sightseeing. "In tour packages to Upper Egypt, where the monuments are, there are a lot of additional expenses, like guides and transportation – more than with a seven or 14-night package at a beach destination," he says. "The Red Sea resort towns of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, by contrast, offer all-inclusive deals, which is a budget attraction."

One clearly positive effect of the upsurge of recreational tourism is the fact that vacationers coming for sand and surf – unlike those coming for the pyramids – tend to come back repeatedly. "There are certainly more repeat visitors coming for the beaches than for the culture," said Khatib.

Some observers note that the shift in emphasis away from cultural destinations has been reinforced by tourism trends post-9/11. While Americans and Britons have traditionally made up the major market for cultural tourism packages, the Anglo-American niche was badly dented in 2001. "The Americans disappeared after the September 11 attacks," says Fawzi, "although, this market’s starting to pick up again."

Khatib, too, concedes that the number of American tourists visiting Egypt has waned. He attributes that partly to airline connection problems at domestic U.S. airports. "We’re working on that," she said. She added that the majority of visiting Americans were coming to Egypt on incentive programmes or for conferences.

So while Red Sea resorts continue to soak up the lion’s share of visitors, the brooding temples of Karnak and the Valley of the Kings bide their time, as always.

Dr. Mustafa al-Abbadi, professor of archaeology at Alexandria University says the trend is unfortunate. "People are entitled to enjoy nature however they want. Even I enjoy a good swim every now and then," he says. "But it’s human nature to be interested in the past, in antiquities – an indication of a better mind."