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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Travel in flocks
By Rehab Saad
Tourism trends have changed worldwide. Egypt is no exception. In winters past, large numbers of well-to-do Europeans would flock to Egypt where they were in the habit of spending months and oodles of money. With the option of mass tourism, wherein Europeans come in large groups on charter flights and enjoy packages provided by various travel agencies, this trend is no longer.
The same applies to Arab holiday-makers. The stereotype is by now well-known. He is the white-robed gentleman who comes to Egypt with his family and a bottomless purse. For a month or more, he finds refuge from the sweltering heat of his own country and dishes out money frivolously in search of pleasant diversion. This stereotype, however, is increasingly becoming a legend among Egyptians working in the services sector. Today, the Arab traveller is more likely to spend a week at most -- and sometimes a mere weekend -- in Umm El Dunya (mother of the world).
Moreover, Cairo is no more the sole attraction for Arab travellers. With the rapid proliferation of posh Red Sea resorts, Arabs have become fixtures on the beaches of Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh, aboard yachts and submarines.
Arabs have also shown a tendency to travel in groups, albeit their groups vastly differ from those of Westerners. Foreigners generally look for reasonable rates, but also demand itineraries including visits to historical sites. For Arab groups, the concept of "group travel" signifies being collected from the airport in a bus and taken to the hotel. Full stop. They would rather spend their holidays independently.
According to Arab tourism experts, the only reason Arabs come in groups is to obtain better deals in hotels, theatres and amusement parks such as Dream Land. "Some also ask us to organise a dinner on a Nile cruise," said Nader El-Beblawi, general manger of Gezira Travel.
Arab holidaymakers enjoying Cairo's night life
photo: Amr Gamal
Travellers from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and North Africa constitute a whole new ballgame. They do not care so much about accommodation and transfer, but ask for tours to the pyramids, mosques, Pharaonic village in Giza and the 6th of October (1973 war) panorama in Nasr City. They are also interested in Nile cruises between Luxor and Aswan, as well as sojourns in Red Sea resorts. "They are extremely fond of beaches," said El-Beblawi. "Can you imagine that there have been eight charter flights that operate from Jordan and Lebanon every week to Sharm Al-Sheikh directly for the past four years?"
El-Beblawi added that his company began promoting Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh in Arab countries after the severe blow dealt to Western markets by the 1993 terrorist attacks that targeted touristic areas. "At that time, we travelled to some of the Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and promoted these Red Sea resorts. We succeeded and we started to receive big groups to these areas," he said. "But Cairo will always be the number one destination for the Arabs. About 85 per cent of the Arab travellers head to Cairo for their vacations."
El-Beblawi, whose company receives about 40,000 Arab tourists a year, identified a third group of Arabs who come to Egypt in clumps for religious tourism. "These are mainly the Shi'ites who come to visit certain mosques and mausoleums such as Sayeda Zeinab, Al-Hussein and Sayeda Aisha," he explained.
He stressed, however, that Arab tourism faces a set of obstacles that must be overcome, the most serious of which is arbitrary pricing. Hotels increase their rates for Arab travellers. "We understand that rates should be different because the European guest patrons resorts more often throughout the year. However, there is a grave injustice in how this policy is applied to Arabs. For example, an individual Arab who goes to a hotel is charged double the price offered to a European. This rating policy should be applied to groups only and not to individuals," he said.
The second problem, according to Arab tourism experts, is the fierce competition between Egypt and other countries in attracting Arab travellers. There are now many countries that are successfully putting together competitive packages for Arab tourists.
El-Beblawi said, "There are countries that are doing anything to attract the Arabs. Do not only think of traditional competitors such as Lebanon and Turkey, but think of other unimaginable places, such as Orlando in the USA, Singapore, South Africa and Australia. Arabs go to Australia in large groups and are given very cheap prices." "Compare that to what happens in Egypt," he said. "When we have a tourist crisis and the number of tourists from Europe and the USA falls, we run to the Arab market and make promotions and discounts. When they start to come and our traditional European tourism market starts to recover, we forget about the Arabs. Prices consequently get higher and promotions become less."
El-Beblawi pointed out the fact that a Kuwaiti newspaper last year published an advertisement of a travel agency that was promoting Egypt extensively. This year, the very same advertisement does not include Egypt at all but is including other countries such as Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates instead. "This is because of the pricing policy," he said.
Arab tourism experts stressed that there should be a better way of dealing with the Arab market. "We should set reasonable prices for the services rendered to Arabs and have more and more promotions from the official and private sector," suggested El-Beblawi.
According to tourist officials, Egypt recently paid big attention to the Arab market. For example, in July and August, many events are organised especially for the Arabs, such as the Tourism and Shopping Festival offering tremendous discounts on many products and services as well as the Festival of the Arab song, which will take place next week. This is in addition to other facilities offered at the airport involving customs.
