Tourism in Egypt is an integral contributor to the economy. In 2012, when the industry was at its peak, it contributed to about 12% of the national GDP, with a recorded total of 14.7 million visitors. Studies from the government records indicate that tourism industry contributed $12.5 billion in 2012 (Pallister, 2004). Tourism in Egypt also contributed to about 12.6% of direct and indirect jobs opportunities. In addition, it provides the source of foreign exchange which contributes to earning about 20% of the country GDP.
History indicates that tourism industry has been the bedrock of the country economy since 1950s, with an approximate of 0.1million visitors (Pallister, 2004). European countries and the United States are important contributors accounting to more than 70% of all visitors. Despite its significance they are many challenges that have marred the tourism industry. Some of the worst crisis includes impact of political events, financial crises, natural disasters and political instability. This paper is a literature review of four peer review journals highlighting the impacts of the political activities and instability and how it have affected the tourism industry.
The significance of the industry on the contribution to the economy is critical. It is important to analyze literature review to gain a deeper understanding of all the factors that affect the industry, and provide policy makers with insights and additional information to consider when making important decision on how to revive the industry and guide future research. The analysis of the literature review is based on the two questions specifically focusing on the impacts of the political activities and how it affects the tourism industry in the country.
Research questions
- To assess the Impact of mass tourism in the Egypt economy?
- To assess the challenges faced by mass tourism in Egypt?
Literature Review.
Eraqi (2006) evaluates the perspectives of customers with regards to the quality of tourism services available in Egypt. Eraqi’s specific aim is to assess the level of creativity and innovativeness, which is meant to guarantee customer satisfaction, in Egypt’s tourism business environment. Eraqi’s study fulfils its objectives through a review of existing literatures in services quality management as well as in tourism quality measurements. Most significantly, Eraqi obtains his findings by conducting two separate surveys, one focusing on employees and the other on the tourists.
Wynne-Hughes (2012) explores how Egyptian travel guidebooks portray the country as an attractive tourist destination, despite its position as a hot-bed of terror in counterterrorism discourses. To arrive at her conclusions, Wynne-Hughes undertakes a post-structural discourse analysis of guidebooks as well as the British and Egyptian counterterrorism strategies respectively. Wynne-Hughes uses the term “discourse” to refer to signification strategies or techniques that ultimately reproduce meanings in the social environment, thereby effectively ordering its objects and subjects.
Richter and Steiner (2008) examine the economic implications of the rise of tourism in Egypt within a period of three decades, from the 1980’s. Richter and Steiner (2008) aim to counter the notion that liberalization of state-regulated markets in the so-called “developing” countries may have any significant long-lasting effects on economic development. As far as the methodology of their study is concerned, Richter and Steiner use Egypt as an exploratory case, and they obtain their findings through fieldwork and extensive study of documentation by the IMF. The field study took place between 2003 and 2005, and it entailed 30 interviews with respondents who are experts in the tourism sector as well as from government institutions.
Nassar (2012) explores the influence of political unrest on the Egyptian tourism industry, particularly in the context of the uprisings that nearly tore the country apart. Nassar’s study employs the ethnographical research methodology to investigate the negative effects of politically-motivated violence in the Egyptian tourism industry. Nassar adopts a triangulation case study approach because it is a valuable methodological approach whose specific qualities make it suitable for various types of surveys. While it can be used alongside data, theories and methodologies, triangulation comprises protocols that ensure accuracy as well as alternative interpretations. Triangulation is particularly effective since it validates data collection processes as well as the consistency of findings.
This analysis reveals that there are specific themes related to mass tourism in Egypt that are common in all the literature reviewed. For instance, Eraqi (2006) highlights that tourism is a very competitive industry and, moving forward, players in this sector can no longer continue to compete on the basis of cost alone. Eraqi argues that quality is a critical determinant of the competitiveness of the tourism industry, and especially so in the contemporary world of tourism. Eraqi (2006) is strongly convinced that there is an urgent need to reorganize the Egyptian tourism trade sector to encourage partnerships between enterprises. Wynne-Hughes (2012) also highlights the issue of quality of tourism services in Egypt by examining how travel guidebooks portray the country as a fantastic travel destination with attractive tourism spaces and locales. In relation to the question of quality, Richter and Steiner (2008) argue that the neo-patrimonial nature of the Egyptian political system (form of governance where all power flows directly from the leader) obstructs both the effects of liberalization and structural adjustments. Consequently, this neo-patrimonial character of leadership has ripple effects in the tourism industry as well, thereby inevitably affecting the quality levels of mass tourism services in Egypt. In concurrence with the above, Nassar (2012) bemoans the devastating effects of political instability to the quality levels of tourism services in Egypt.
Nevertheless, Eraqi (2006) observes that Egypt has high tourism service levels, except for a few bottlenecks. Some of the critical factors affecting tourism in Egypt include environmental conditions, safety and security conditions, as well as transport and communication infrastructure. With regards to safety and security, Eraqi (2006) highlights that terror threats pose serious dangers to tourists in Egypt and they must be dealt with effectively to assure tourists of their safety. This particular issue has also been highlighted by Wynne-Hughes (2012) who observes that the terror threat in Egypt has not been a deterred British tourism to the country. Wynne-Hughes (2012) argues that tourist guidebooks define and portray some specific locales in the country as “threat free” and therefore safe for western tourists. While accounting for terrorism, tourist guidebooks reiterate Egypt’s commitment to the war against terror, as well as the country’s counter-terrorism strategies. For that matter, travel guidebooks effectively reduce the negative effects of the terror threat by highlighting Egypt’s counterterrorism strategies while delineating the country’s safe and secure tourist destinations. Nassar (2012) also explores this issue of safety and security of tourist destinations by highlighting that tourists are particularly delicate to travel advisories and reports of violence and political unrest in prospective tourist destinations.
With regards to the question of sustainability, Eraqi (2006) emphasizes the need to promote harmony with the human and natural environments, to ensure sustainability of mass tourism in the longer term. Indicatively, to conserve and protect the tourist destinations for the sake of the future generations is to ensure sustainability of the Egyptian mass tourism industry in the coming years as well (Abdelwarith 2013). Wynne-Hughes (2012) also addresses the question of sustainability of the Egyptian tourism industry through a discussion of the discourse of good/bad Muslims and Western liberal democracy, which constructs Egypt as a tourist destination. Richter and Steiner (2008) make it clear that the neo-patrimonial nature of Egypt’s political system undermine collaborations that would otherwise promote tourism service thereby ensuring sustainability of the country’s tourism industry in the longer term. As far as Nassar (2012) is concerned, political tensions and violence are a threat to the sustainability of Egypt’s mass tourism industry and adequate measures must be taken to prevent a recurrence of the same in the future.
Cisco Systems, Inc: Collaborating on New Product Introduction
Despite the challenges addressed above, the literature reviewed consistently addresses the question of the economic contribution of Egypt’s mass tourism industry. Eraqi (2006) argues that tourism is a critical sector that could potentially lead to massive economic gains, if tourism stake-holders device creative and innovative ways of creating and delivering value to promote the quality levels of tourism services accordingly. Wynne-Hughes (2012) also reiterates the point on the economic viability of Egypt’s mass tourism industry by highlighting how the country continues to attract tourists even after it has been positioned as a hot-bed for terror activities in the global counterterrorism discourse. Travel guidebooks continually secure Egypt’s economic gains from mass tourism by continually representing the country as an attractive tourist destination. Similarly, Richter and Steiner (2008) point out that mass tourism is one of Egypt’s greatest income earners, compared to other sectors of the country’s economy. Nassar concurs with their findings arguing that tourism is a particularly significant sector of the national economy and the survival and growth of the tourism industry is critical for the economic development of many countries. In the case of Egypt, its economic gains from mass tourism were largely affected by the many travel advisories that were issued by other countries including the US, UK, and Japan, following reports of political unrest during the uprising.
Ultimately, this literature review highlights that mass tourism is indeed a critical sector of the national economy and that Egypt has all the incentives to ensure that the mass tourism industry remains productive and sustainable in the longer term. Unfortunately, the Egyptian mass tourism industry is susceptible to numerous challenges which inevitably undermine the quality of tourism services, thereby its economic viability as well as its continued productivity and sustainability in the longer term. For instance, the literature reviewed confirms that quality levels of tourism services, safety and security as well as political instability inevitably undermine mass tourism since reports of terror threats and violence deter potential tourists. In that respect, Egypt must adopt proactive measures that will ensure development and sustainability of its mass tourism industry in the longer term accordingly, it needs to continue reaping its economic gains in the future.
Can I get a competent professional to write my essays for me or do my essays for me cheap? Yes, we can write your papers for you from scratch and within your deadline. Place an order, and our experts will complete your papers according to instructions
We provide excellent papers within your deadline. Just give clear instructions and your paper is done!
