Will Egyptian ecotourism warrior prevail

The world iconic destination is set to embark on a big ecotourism programme – will it now go off the rails

At the World Green Tourism event in Abu Dhabi last November, Hisham Zaazou, senior assistant to Egypt’s Minister of Tourism, spoke passionately about the need to “save the resources that we have in Egypt for many generations to come”.

And now, for the second time in 15 years – Egypt’s tourism is under threat from a different danger – frightened tourists.

At the Green Tourism event Zaazou said: “If we don’t do anything,” he said, “one day we may lose even the great pyramids because the congestion is ‘humongous’. It will be a crime if we sabotage them.”

In a bid to stem this tide of destruction and to re-brand Egypt as a green tourism destination of the future, the Tourism Ministry had launched a pioneering new project – the ‘Green Sharm Initiative’ which was to transform the Red Sea hot spot of Sharm el Sheikh into a model of eco-tourism for others to follow.

The ‘Green Sharm Initiative’ evolved out of the need to balance conservation needs with tourism promotion.

“Egypt had an accelerated number of visitors coming into the destination every year, and while that had a positive effect on the economy it had a negative effect on our resources. We can’t stop people from coming as we need them to spend money in the country,” says Zaazou.

“But at the same time, how can we balance between protecting our environment and sustaining the growth of tourism to Egypt? This project is about how to balance between the ever-increasing numbers of people that want to visit and taking care of what you have. That’s our challenge.”

Egypt wants to be the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to “transform into a world class green destination”.

The scheme laid out ambitious targets in waste reduction, emissions reduction, water-use reduction and protection of the area’s biodiversity to be reached by 2020 — including a 36% reduction in carbon emissions.

According to Zaazou, the Ministry is investing US$ 276 million (1.6 billion EGP) in the initiative — 52% of which will come from the government and international donations and the rest from private initiatives.

Can this now happen? Will the investors pull out if they can’t now see returns?

Sharm el Sheikh was to be just the beginning. Eventually the project would have been rolled out across all major tourist areas in Egypt — with Luxor, Hurghada, Alexandria, the Mediterranean coast including Aswan and the Western desert already in line for a green-over.

“What we are embarking on is a massive project in Egypt in terms of going green,” said Zaazou at the time.

How can ecotourism survive strife and turmoil? A question we all need to understand.

Valere Tjolle
Valere is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite 2011 latest special offer at www.travelmole.com/stories/1146423.php