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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 September 1999 Issue No. 445 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 September 1999 Issue No. 445
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Focus Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The new face of tourism
By Rehab SaadLike any other product, tourism is expected to develop in the 21st century. Tourists will also change and their demands will be different. For this reason, efforts are being exerted in Egypt to anticipate and meet these demands and to keep pace with new tourist trends.
Recent tourist studies show that there will be a new concept of tourism in the coming millennium. Tourists will not only want sun, sand and sea, but will be searching for more facilities, more services, more entertainment and more fun.
According to a report issued by the specialised national councils, tourists in the past were in search of sun and beaches, were inexperienced in travelling and depended totally on the travel agent. However, the tourists of the new millennium will be more selective, experienced, sophisticated, knowledgeable, more environment-conscious and above all not dependent on others.
The concept of beach tourism itself is set to change. In addition to sunbathing and swimming, holidaymakers will be searching for other activities to fill their time -- for example diving, snorkelling, surfing and beach games. Moreover, there is a new trend now in resorts to provide visitors with more sporting facilities such as golf courses.
"The more diversity you offer, the higher the level of positive feedback is," said Maha Saad, director of Sheraton public relations for the Middle East. She added that people are becoming more health-conscious and thus demand proper nutrition and the facilities for regular exercise. "Basically, in the last 10 years, people have started to prefer to go to places where they can exercise and have fun," she said.
Saad also explained that a new trend is emerging worldwide in children's tourism. "There should be facilities for children in tourist resorts. In Egypt it is very rare to find facilities such as supervised children's club areas. These things should be provided," she said.
Furthermore, as people are becoming more health-conscious, there is a dire need to promote therapeutic tourism and the establishment of health spas. "This product is emerging now in Egypt as there are new health spas in the Red Sea region, specifically Safaga, and in Aswan," a tourist expert commented.
In order to guarantee the success of this kind of tourism, there should be cooperation between the tourism and health sectors in Egypt as far as marketing and administration are concerned. "There should also be cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and scientific research bodies to adopt a specific strategy to develop therapeutic tourism in Egypt," the report of the national councils said.
This diversification of the tourist product is not only confined to new activities. According to the report, Pharaonic monuments are one of the main tourist attractions in Egypt. However, Pharaonic tourism is restricted to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel, although there are many other areas that are rich in Pharaonic monuments but are not on the tourist map. "Thus the first step in developing the Egyptian product is to increase the number of ancient sites available for tourists. Both the ministers of tourism and culture should specify the places that can be open for tourists. This should be accompanied by major marketing campaigns and promotion worldwide," the report said.
It also stressed that the Red Sea, Sinai and the northern coast offer tourists a very attractive product, namely marine life and the unmatchable beaches that can be a major tourist attraction.
Desert safaris will be one of the new trends of tourism in the coming millennium
photo: Khaled El-FiqiEgypt can also offer several products that guarantee a larger number of tourists, such as exhibition and conference tourism. "Egypt has succeeded in attracting a large number of international conferences. However, there should be full cooperation between the Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC) and the tourist private sector to guarantee an influx of conferences and exhibitions all year round," the report said.
Technology will play a major role in the tourism of the next millennium. Technology will not be limited to computerised ticket bookings, but will include information systems, promotion and distribution. The Internet is now widely used in the tourism industry. The report of the specialised councils recommended that Egypt should adopt the latest technology offered in tourism as it would guarantee better marketing and avoid isolation from the international market.
The report also stressed that traditional tourism concentrates more on competition in prices and on profits, whereas the new tourism focuses more on competition in renovations and quality in order to guarantee customer satisfaction.
Holidays are another aspect of the new tourism as they are not restricted to a single season in developed countries, but are spread all over the year. "For that reason there should be new places in Egypt available all year round. There should also be events, such as art or sports festivals, to attract tourists all the time," said a tourist expert.
New tourism will also witness new types of tourists such as the elderly, singles, handicapped and those who do not have children.
"There will be a big change in the countries that are exporting tourists to Egypt. There will be an increase in numbers of elderly travellers and families without children, as well as singles. These types of tourists have more freedom and more time to travel and accordingly have different requirements from other travellers. These requirements should be provided in order to attract this segment. Moreover, there should be facilities for the handicapped such as escalators and ramps. They should be taken into consideration in all future tourist projects," an expert commented.
The report said that for Egypt to best increase the number of incoming tourists it should adopt specific marketing strategies in different markets. "Egypt until now is dependent on the European and US markets in addition to the Gulf Arab countries. Egypt should target new markets such as the Eastern Europe, South America and North Africa. In order to achieve the best marketing results in these countries, there should be full cooperation between the public and private sectors. Egypt should also raise its profile in the different markets through festivals, conferences and exhibitions," the report suggested.
