Global Arab Network | Egypt to attract 14 million tourists by 2011

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Egypt to attract 14 million tourists by 2011

Global Arab Network - - Mohammed Almasri

Sunday, 27 June 2010 13:10

Egypt has developed a plan to boost the total number of tourists to reach 14 million annually by 2011, Egypt Minister of Tourism told national media.

The Minister, Zuhair Garana, estimated that Arab tourism represents about 18% of Egypt's total tourism in terms of both number and income.

Garana indicated that Egypt is attracting the highest share of Arab tourism at the world level. He added that the government's plan aims at placing Egypt among the top 15 attractive destinations within 5 years. The plan seeks to increase the capacity of Egyptian hotels, he said.

Egypt enjoys various fields of tourism attraction, the most important are archeological or cultural tourism hur mohebas one of the oldest types of tourism in Egypt, where the landmarks of the ancient civilizations are visible to the naked eye, an incarnation of the nations that constructed these civilizations since the dawn of history. Despite the multiple types of tourism, and Egypt’s cultural tourism remains the unrepeated, unique and non-competitive component of tourism as Egypt possesses one third of the world’s known monuments.

Besides cultural and archaeological tourism, many tourism attraction types have come into existence and addressed broader segments of tourists across the world, including recreational tourism, beaches tourism, religious tourism, therapeutic tourism, eco-tourism, sports tourism, golf tourism, safari tourism, desert tourism, yacht tourism, and maritime tourism in addition to festivals tourism, and cultural events and finally conferences and exhibitions tourism.

In addition to these types of tourism, "Diving Centers Tourism" represents a tourist activity that attracts large numbers of tourists. Sharm el-Sheikh city is one of the largest diving centers in the world because of its potential environment and unique diversified nature which leads Sharm el-sheikh to be one of the major centers for attracting domestic and international tourism, in addition to being a resort for armatures fishing, tourism and diving. There you will find the biggest diving centers equipped with the latest devices, because of which, World Travel Awards awarded Sharm el-Sheikh the best global destination for diving in 2007.

In order to achieve further flourishing and tourist attractions, "Time-sharing Tourism", which was developed by Egypt, has revived. This new type of tourism grant non-Egyptians the right of ownership and usage of small units of accommodation in some new urban areas as well as in tourist areas in each of the distinguished cities such as Sidy Abdul Rahman, Hurghada, Red Sea and Marsa Matrouh.

Moreover, conference tourism in Egypt has steadily increased over the past six years where the total events held in Cairo International Conference Center amounted to 665 events, including 132 international and local conferences and 235 exhibitions and 298 cermonies and occasions. In 2008, Egypt witnessed a significant recovery for conference tourism, where many world conferences have been held on its territory such as Davos economic forum in Sharm El-Sheikh, The National Conference on Population and the African Summit.

Festival tourism is also one of the most important and latest types of tourist attractions, either sport, recreational, or artistic festivals. Egypt solely holds many popular festivals such as Cairo International Song Festival, International Film Festival, and Tourism and Shopping Festival, the annual fishing festival for amateurs and Alexandria International Festival for Mediterranean Song and the Sharm el-Sheikh International Championship for Bowling.

In September 2007, Al-Alsharkeya governorate organized the XVI International Festival for Arab Horses, which is one of the most important tourism festivals in Egypt.

The festival has organized several shows including the musical horse taming and horseback gymnastics and other show of various musical trots with horses, in addition to, the skill of brandishing weapons while riding a horse.

In 2007, Egypt won the second rank among the best 5 tourist destinations in the Middle East for setting up conferences and festivals on the sidelines of Egypt’s participation in the Gulf Incentive Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition.

Global Arab Network

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