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Tourism Analysis, Vol. 12, pp. 39–49 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AS A WAY FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN EGYPT

MOHAMMED I. ERAQI Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Fayoum University, Egypt

As ecotourism becomes more and more popular, sustainability requirements cannot be ignored from the viewpoints of both practitioners and researchers. The purpose of this study is to present an overview of a general picture for ecotourism resources management to understand how sustainability can be applied to different tourism sites and how ecotourism resources can be managed and marketed effectively and efficiently in Egypt. Statistical models, such as Statistical Means, Correlation Coefficients, Chi-Square, and Regression Analysis, are used to test and interpret the research outcomes. The research findings explained that there are positive attitudes of locals towards sustainability requirements and there is a degree of misunderstanding to the concept of ecotourism for many tourism companies and agencies in Egypt. Also, it is important to develop a new marketing strategy for ecotourism in Egypt using suitable tourism marketing strategies and policies. Key words: Tourism; Environment; Resources; Management; Heritages; Culture

Introduction

not present a final positive and specific proposal or a list of criteria that could be applied to each environmental case—nor will they, given the dynamic character of social values. It is necessary to deal with each case according to its characteristics and the social and cultural conditions that surround it. The main point is to satisfy the tourist’s needs and push benefits to the local community without destroying the ecotourism resources for the benefit of future generations. The environment is the main base for the natural and cultural resources for attracting tourists worldwide (Bonn, Joseph, & Dai, 2005; Smits & Shousha, 1998). Therefore, the conservation of environmental resources is very necessary for the

Tourism is a world phenomenon that has an increasingly important socioeconomic and cultural impact, so the heritage, nature and culture, has to be protected. The notion of impact must be combined with a belief about the importance of certain values. There are “red signals” that reflect the concern about controlling mass tourism flows to decrease the polluting factors as well as other side effects acting on natural resources and cultural landscapes for generations to come (Filho, 1998; Timothy, 2000; UN ESCAP, 2001). However, the literature and publishing materials on ecotourism resources management or sustainability fields do

Address correspondence to Mohammed I. Eraqi, Associate Professor, 110/4B/Bitco, 32 Al-Ahram Street, Giza, Egypt. Tel: +2 3846243; Mobile: 0183514571; Fax: +2 084 6356631; E-mail: [email protected]

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long-term success of tourism development. Carrying capacity is a key approach in planning for sustainable tourism development and ecotourism resources management. The “best practice” to manage environment resources is to maximize the use that can be made of a tourist site without causing detrimental effects on its tourism resources, decreasing tourist satisfaction level, or causing socioeconomic problems for the local community. This, of course, is the intrinsic problem of carrying capacity. Any level of use leads to some detrimental effects. Thus, the key question is not how to provide tourism “without causing detrimental effects,” but rather determining how acceptable such effects may be. The success of ecotourism resources management will depend on the extent to which undesirable environmental effects of tourism development and tourist activities are prevented or minimized in order to guarantee a certain level of quality of life to local people. This can be achieved by maintaining biodiversity, protecting land from other exploitative resource uses, and generating revenue for local people (Benavides & Perez-Ducy, 2001; Gunn, 1994; Horochowski & Moisey, 2001; Ludwig, Hilborn, & Walters, 1993; Sharpley, 2001). For sustainability purpose, it is necessary to limit consumption of natural resources, limit destination space, and limit pollution size. In short, it is important to limit and control tourism development based on mass tourism strategy and expand high quality tourism for achieving the sustainability requirements (Ono, 1993; World Bank, 1992; UN ESCAP, 2001; United Nations Environment Program, 2002). This article endeavors to give an overview of a general picture for ecotourism resources management to understand how sustainability can be applied to different tourism sites, and the factors leading to success as well as failure. It explains how ecotourism resources can be managed effectively and efficiently in Egypt. It also evaluates the sustainable tourism development policies applied to the Red Sea Coast of Egypt and explains how these policies can be derived from a tourism planning system that should be open-ended. Ecotourism and the Sustainable Tourism Development Ecotourism has a great impact on the environment, and it does not need extensive infrastruc-

ture; in comparison to other types of tourism, it is a small but rapidly growing movement. Ecotourism as a concept comprises a wide range of activities, from field research of flora and wildlife to weekend nature outings that combine leisure and education (Nikitinskiy, 2001). These activities are accompanied by large-scale tourist movements, with increased air pollution from different transport modes. This can contribute to unacceptable levels of noise in rural surroundings, and the overuse of motor boats in water recreation can damage the environmental systems. Almost 75% of tourism activity in Egypt was leisure orientated and mostly concentrated on the Sinai and Red Sea (Smits & Shousha, 1998). The most immediately apparent form of environmental pollution may be aesthetic rather than physical. As an area of scenic beauty attracts greater numbers of tourists, so the natural landscape is lost to tourist development (Holloway, 1990). For example, the growth of hotels, restaurants, tourism resorts, and other amenities catering for tourists’ needs in the Red Sea and South Sinai areas has negative impacts on the natural environment and may damage the ecotourism resources as a way to attract tourists in the future. The unsustainable development in Hurghada, the capital of the Red Sea Governorate, has had disastrous results, with 80% of the live coral along that portion of the coastline effectively destroyed. This is because ecotourism has been marketed as a form of nature-based tourism, and ecotourists have higher than average incomes and level of education, and are also willing to spend more than the normal tourists. In terms of their psychographic characteristics, they possess an environmental ethic, and are biocentric rather than anthropocentric in orientation (Wearing & Neil, 1999). The term ecotourism, therefore, refers on one hand to a concept based on a set of principles, and on the other hand to a specific market segment. The International Ecotourism Society in 1991 produced one of the earliest definitions: “Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local people.” It refers to low-impact, naturebased tourism that causes less damaging effects on a destination’s environmental, social, and economic resources than conventional mass tourism, and it can be used as an effective sustainable develop-

ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ment tool (Horochowski & Moisey, 2001). The World Conservation Union (1996) explains that ecotourism “is environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features—both past and present) that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socioeconomic involvement of local populations.” This could be called, as a concept, ecotourism resources management. Ecotourism resources management is a component of the field of sustainable tourism development (Buckley, 2001; Pigram, 1997; Wight, 2001; Wood & Halpenny, 2001). Ecotourism resources management aspires in all cases to achieve sustainable development results. However, it is important to emphasize that all tourism activities, such as holidays, business, conferences, congresses or fairs, health, adventure, or ecotourism, should aim to be able to achieve an acceptable level of sustainability. This means that the planning and development of tourism infrastructure, its subsequent operation, and its marketing should focus on environmental, social, cultural, and economic sustainability criteria. The strong orientation of the ecotourism field toward principles, guidelines, and certification based on sustainability standards gives it an unusual position in the tourism field. Since the concept was first defined, a general consensus has formed on the basic elements of ecotourism resources management objectives, which include: contribute to conservation of biodiversity, sustain the wellbeing of local people, include an interpretation/ learning experience, involve responsible action on the part of tourists and the tourism industry, deliver primarily to small groups by small-scale businesses, require the lowest possible consumption of nonrenewable resources, and stress local participation, ownership, and business opportunities, particularly for rural people (Murphy, 1994, p. 279; World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p. 43; World Tourism Organization [WTO], 1993, 1997a, 2000). The World Tourism Organization explains that sustainable development has to be based on building a relationship between the tourism industry, environmental systems, and the local community’s

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main principles of sustainability (European Commission, 1995; Mowforth & Munt, 1998, pp: 105– 111). It is necessary to formulate new forms of public–private sector partnerships and provide an integrated technical support and assistance program (Ross & Wall, 2001). It is vital to increase the degree of awareness of the importance of sustainable development for local communities, design suitable indicators for sustainability in tourism, choose specific areas for sustainable tourism development to concentrate on, manage mass tourism at culture heritage sites, and focus on priority environmental issues and gathering completed information on those issues, taking into account the causes as well as the impacts on humans and nature (Moisey & McCool, 2001; Phillips, 2000; WTO, 1997b, 2001; Yunis, 2002). Sustainable Tourism Development in Egypt The tourism development strategy by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism sets a basic concern on environmental aspects. This strategy provides an important consideration that is given to the protection of the unique heritage of Egypt beside the protection of the resources of ecotourism. Tourism development priorities include the Egyptian Coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, the zone from Hurghada to Safaga on the Red Sea, Nile Cruises from Sohag to Aswan, and Yachting Tourism (Wahab, 1997). Egypt has 1280 kilometers of coral reefs and the chance to develop sustainable tourism applications for them is only about 30%. Most coral reefs available as natural attractions to international tourists are located in the Red Sea area. For example, there are about 600,000 dives per year taking place in the Hurghada area alone. Marin resources have been looked at as common property and a means for access to diving sites, which cause significant reef deterioration. The coral reefs and the adjacent habitats to the Egyptian Red Sea coast have a high biological diversity. They also present unique habitats and breeding sites for species of world-wide significance, including the endangered green turtle and dugong. The coral reefs are at risk to be exposed to both direct and indirect effects of tourism, such as diver damage, anchor damage, reef walking, and coastal alteration. The coral reefs and marine resources are vulnerable to the

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effects of mass tourism and unregulated recreational activities. Random diving and water sports have already caused big damage to coral reefs in the Hurghada area. In addition, dredging and infilling for tourism development and coastal engineering projects have drastically altered wide areas of near shore coastal habitats. To protect the coral reefs and associated habitats, it is necessary to adopt suitable managerial methodologies and design environmental policies for the efficient management of recreational activities. Egypt has 9% of its total area as natural reservations, which includes 23 protected areas. There are 17 other natural conservations that are expected to be added in the year of 2017. The area of natural conservations will reach 15% of Egypt’s total area. And now there are many national parks and protected areas that have been created and a number of historic monuments have been excavated or restored recently. Many local tour operators offer a great variety of products from nature, adventure and sport tourism, fishing, and hunting. Environmental improvements in the Hurghada– Safaga area start to develop slowly in comparison with conservation policies and activities in the Southern Sinai where the Ras Mohammed National Park (RMNP) was declared a natural protection area in 1983. There are seven islands, and their reef systems in the near shore Hurghada area are connected with the Gebel Elba protected area, and they are protected by the Law 102/1983. There is growing commitment toward sustainable tourism development from both public and private sectors in Egypt. Many individual resorts and nongovernmental bodies have their initiative for ecotourism resources reservations. Progress has been made toward greater public and private sector cooperation, although much more work remains to be done. However, in Egypt and Middle East Region countries there are a number of shortages. From the viewpoint of sustainable tourism development requirements, they are (Wahab, 2001): (1) low hygiene standards, tourist harassment, moderate safety records in air, sea, and on-land transport, and political upheavals; (2) lack of sufficient and efficient infrastructure and major tourist development projects in tourism areas; (3) insufficient numbers of skilled personnel and ineffectiveness of education and training programs; (4) risk

conflict between tourist developers and local communities concerning sustainable tourists development projects; and (5) low level of environmental conditions in some cities and locations; for example, Greater Cairo has been suffering from undesirable environmental conditions as a result of not adopting the suitable strategies and policies relating sustainability requirement (Japan International Cooperation Agency, 2002). The Red Sea area sustainable tourism development strategy is designed to improve the environmental impact of tourism development activities on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, which is encountering unplanned rapid growth in tourism resorts and hotel development recently. Roughly 1,800 rooms considered suitable for international visitors were developed in Hurghada between 1980 and 1990. Today, the quality offer is approaching 7,000 rooms, with an additional 6,000 rooms of a lower standard. Most hotel accommodation is found in self-contained developments, which sprawl over large sites along a 30km coastal strip. Some properties offer villas/apartments and time-sharing is not uncommon. With the exception of Sheraton and Sonesta, major international hotel chains have entered the market recently. Unfortunately, much of the development has been conducted without the benefit of strict planning/zoning control and, as a result, an abundance of hotels has emerged with little or no regard for aesthetics or the environment (Smits & Shousha, 1998). These unsystematic tourism development processes have the potential of threatening the ecotourism resources, such as the marine ecosystem. This new strategy is based on formulation of best environmental management policies (Best Practices) that control the resorts and tourism villages planning processes through audits, training, building suitable management systems, certification, and monitoring, to be matched with sustainable tourism development requirements. Research Methodology To achieve the objectives of this work, the research methodology depends on conducting interviews with a number of experts working in the

ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT tourism sector in Egypt. The objective is to identify the suitable strategies that could be implemented to achieve the sustainable tourism development’s objectives in Egypt. A focus group discussion approach was used to learn and understand what the tourism experts say about ecotourism resources management constraints in Egypt and understand their argument. This approach was conducted by giving the experts the opportunity to talk about their managerial problems at length and in detail in order to discover how they feel or what they think about the sustainable tourism development problems in Egypt, and how these dilemmas can be solved. Explanatory rounds of discussions were conducted at the Federation of Tourism Chambers in Egypt by arranging joint meetings between a number of consultants, experts, academic staff, and practitioners. These circles of experts discussed some issues relating to ecotourism activities in Egypt, such as community awareness, conflicts between the local authorities, and the central government, in areas including accommodation control, inspection and licensing, and the importance of establishing special bodies concerned with accrediting and certification in the fields of green tourism and hospitality. This procedure was achieved by conducting two focus groups at the Egyptian Federation of Tourism Chambers. The first group consisted of 10 experts from the chamber staff who had experience in the areas of ecotourism issues and eco-hotel management problems. The second group consisted of seven tourism experts: three persons from the Egyptian Tourism Ministry staff, two persons from Cardiff University, UK, and two persons from Cairo University, Egypt. There were 150 questionnaires that were distributed among tourism experts and managers who have come from different tourism sectors in Egypt, such as tourism companies’ managers, the department of training and research at the ministry of tourism, floating hotels, some experts from the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Authority EEAA, and some academic people. These different people have been chosen on the basis of a random technique. There are 95 responses that have been put into consideration, because they answered all the questions correctly.

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Discussions of Findings Tourism Managers Attitudes Towards Green Marketing Strategy in Egypt The survey explains that 100% of respondents know something about the green policies and strategies. However, the concept of green strategies may be understood differently by different tourism managers’ groups. Table 1 explains how tourism managers understand the concept of green marketing in Egypt. From this table, one can conclude that tourism managers in Egypt understand green strategies as follows: 17% see it as taking the environmental dimensions when designing tourism products and implementing marketing activities, 11% think it is the implementation of tourism activities considering environmental resources conservation, 10% say that it is the production of environmental friendly tourism products, 9% from the sample size see that it concentrates on environmental friendly tourism products only, and 8% say that it is considering the environmental conditions that are designed by local and international environmental organizations when practicing different tourism activities. However, 45% see tourism green strategies as a concept that includes the above five elements as shown in Table 1. The last result is the best understanding to the concept of green strategies, because it has been shown as a wide vision that could be reflected in different tourism activities, policies, and strategies. Table 1 Tourism Green Strategy as a Concept Items Taking the environmental dimensions when designing tourism products and implementing marketing activities. Producing environmental friendly tourism products. Concentrating on the environmental friendly tourism products only. Considering the environmental conditions that designed by local and international environmental organization when practicing different tourism activities. Implementing tourism activities with considering the environmental resources conservation. All the above elements. Total

N

%

16 9

17 10

9

9

8

8

10 43 95

11 45 100

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The Egyptian Experts Viewpoints Around Ecotourism Resources Management and the Importance of Tourism Green Strategies The objective was to analyze the viewpoints of 95 experts who work in the fields of air transport, tourism planning, tourism promotion, and some tourism investors, around sustainable tourism development principles. Table 2 shows the importance of tourism green strategies and the main principles and policies for ecotourism resources management from the viewpoint of tourism enterprises managers in Egypt (note: items are measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 5 being strongly agree to 1 being strongly disagree).

The survey results (Table 2) explain that green strategies are very important from the viewpoint of tourism enterprises managers in Egypt. The attitudes of tourism managers are very positive, because the extent of these attitudes range from 63% with the scale of “agree,” and 22% with the scale of “strongly agree,” to only 3% and 1% with the scale of “do not agree” and the scale of “strongly do not agree,” respectively. These results seem to be strong because the statistical mean of the importance of tourism green strategies is 4.02. Tourism managers in Egypt say that adopting green strategies and policies is very important for the following reasons. Green strategies help enter-

Table 2 Importance of Sustainability and Its Principles and Policies

A: The importance of tourism green strategies Green strategies help enterprises management to improving their operating efficiency Green strategies make a lot of save in the company’s total operating costs Green strategies improve the company’s competitive position in the international tourism markets. They ensure highly profit margin on the company’s size sales. They give business enterprises better opportunities to obtain financial resources for funding their new investments. They ensure the company survival, on long run, in the tourism global market. They help in achieving the requirements of sustainable tourism development. B: Sustainable Tourism Principles and Policies B-1. Cooperation between ecotourism stakeholders in the field of sustainable tourism planning programs. Designing suitable tourism facilities which match with the benefits of the visiting sites. Formulation of practical and effective systems for cooperation between government, private sector, and local community. Using friendly technology and transport means. B-2. Providing a suitable legislation framework for reservation of eco-tourism resources and cultural and social heritages. Designing suitable criteria for sustainable development. Issuing the suitable laws that insuring a kind of commitment toward the application of criteria for reserving ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages. Providing the suitable institutional frame work for managing the ecotourism resources and reservation of heritages. B-3. International cooperation in the field of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages management process. Establishment an international organization to provide technical and financial assistants for supporting the programs of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages maintenance processes. Designing suitable international programs to increase tourists awareness of the importance of reserving ecotourism resources. Finding a kind of unitization of behavior and ethics relating dealing with ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages. B-4. Sharing local community peoples in the process of sustainable tourism planning. Providing suitable infrastructure and tourism superstructure for local community. Provide suitable incentives for local people to encourage them to maintain ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages. Cutting part of tourism revenues for local community benefits. B-5. Contribution of tourist to reserve ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages. Tourists’ commitment and responsibility of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages reservation. Levying tolls on tourists to participate in reforming and maintaining ecotourism resources. Tourism transport companies should participate in sustainable development processes.

Mean

Rank

4.02 4.22 3.67 4.19 4.00 3.64 4.31 4.25

3 6 4 5 7 1 2

4.62 4.68

2 2

4.79 4.42

1 3

4.76 4.84

1 1

4.79 4.68

2 3

4.42

4

4.84

1

4.47

2

3.95 4.51 4.84

3 3 1

4.42 4.21 4.11 4.74 4.32 2.95

2 3 5 1 2 3

ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT prises management to improve their operating efficiency, 46% agree (average of agreement). Green strategies ensure the company’s survival, in the long run, in the tourism global market, 46% agree (average of agreement). They improve the company’s competitive position in the international tourism markets, 45% agree (average of agreement). They help in achieving the requirements of sustainable tourism development, 45% agree (average of agreement). They ensure a high profit margin on the company’s size sales, 42% agree (average of agreement). Green marketing saves the company in total operating costs, 33% agree (average of agreement). They give business enterprises better opportunities to obtain financial resources for funding their new investments, 29% agree (average of agreement). The statistical mean of the importance of tourism green strategies ranges from 3.67 to 4.31, according to the Likert scale (Kinnear & Taylor, 1991, pp. 246–257). The experts decided on five principles, which are considered very important, from their viewpoints, for managing ecotourism resources effectively, such as cooperation between ecotourism stakeholders in the field of sustainable tourism planning programs, providing a suitable legislation framework for the reservation of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages, international cooperation in the field of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages management process, sharing local community peoples in the process of sustainable tourism planning, and the contribution of the tourist to reserve ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages. According to Table 2 results, the Egyptian experts said that the principle of cooperation between ecotourism stakeholders in the field of sustainable tourism planning programs is very important. Seventy-seven percent of the researched sample “strongly agrees” and 18% “agree” with this principle. The indicators of “disagree” and “strongly disagree” ranged from 3% to 2%. The statistical mean for this principle (strategy) is 4.62. This principle could be achieved through three policies, such as designing suitable tourism facilities that match with the benefits of the visiting sites, formulation of practical and effective systems for cooperation between government, private sector, and local community, and using friendly technology

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and transport means. The statistical mean of these policies ranges from 4.42 to 4.79. The principle of providing a suitable legislation framework for reservation of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages is very important—76% of the researched sample “strongly agrees” and 24% “agree.” This result may be supported by the statistical mean, which equals 4.76. This principle could be achieved through applying the following three policies: designing suitable criteria for sustainable development, issuing the suitable laws that insure a kind of commitment toward the application of criteria for reserving ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages, and providing the suitable institutional framework for managing the ecotourism resources and reservation of heritages. The statistical mean of these policies ranges from 4.68 to 4.84. The principle of international cooperation in the field of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages management process is important, as 60% “strongly agree,” with a statistical mean that equals 4.42. This principle could be implemented through a number of policies such as establishment of an international organization to provide technical and financial assistants for supporting the programs of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages maintenance processes, designing suitable international programs to increase tourists’ awareness of the importance of reserving ecotourism resources, and finding a kind of unitization of behavior and ethics concerning dealing with ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages. The statistical mean of these tools ranges from 3.95 to 4.84. The principle of sharing local community peoples in the process of sustainable tourism planning is important, with 60% who “strongly agree” and a statistical mean that equals 4.51. This principle could be put into practice through the following three policies (Table 2): providing suitable infrastructure and tourism superstructure for local community, providing suitable incentives for local people to encourage them to maintain ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages, and cutting part of tourism revenues for local community benefits. Depending on the Likert-scale approach, one can say that these policies are suitable for applying the strategy of sharing local commu-

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nity peoples in the process of sustainable tourism planning because their statistical mean ranges from 4.21 to 4.84. The principle of contribution of tourists to reserve ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages should be taken into consideration when managing ecotourism resources, because 51% “strongly agree” and 24% “agree.” The statistical mean of this strategy equals 4.11. This principle could be achieved through adopting the following three policies (Table 2): tourists’ commitment and responsibility of ecotourism resources and cultural and social heritages reservation, levying tolls on tourists to participate in reforming and maintaining ecotourism resources, and tourism transport companies should participate in sustainable development processes. Also, these policies are important to achieve this strategy because the statistical mean for these policies ranges from 2.95 to 4.74. Consistency of the Survey Results Statistical correlation is used to examine the consistency of the survey results depending on the applications of SPSS 8.0 for Windows. For the degree of consistency in the opinions of the Egyptian experts around ecotourism resources management strategies and policies, the correlation coefficients between the strategy statements and policy statements range from 1.00 to 0.939 (sig. 0.000 to 0.018) at 0.01 and 0.05 levels (two-tailed) for the variables of strategies and policies. This explains that there are acceptable levels of consistency of the Egyptian experts viewpoints related to the ecotourism strategies and policies. For the consistency of the survey questions “strategies and policies,” there are also acceptable levels of consistency. This is because the correlation coefficients related to the questions (policy variables or statements) range from 1.00 to 0.939 (sig. 0.000 to 0.018) at 0.01 and 0.05 levels (twotailed). Ecotourism Marketing Problems and Solutions in Egypt Table 3 explains the main problem facing ecotourism marketing in Egypt, according to the survey results. It is clear from Table 3 that the main problem facing ecotourism marketing is the lack

of brochures and maps related to ecotourism destinations. The second category of problems is the lack of suitable information about ecotourism destinations, shortage in tourism facilities, and tourism companies facing difficulties in obtaining security licenses. The third category includes lack of ecotourism guides and lack of ecotourism services providers such as transporters and desert guides. The last problem is the lack of skills for designing ecotourism programs. The Egyptian experts suggest a number of solutions for ecotourism marketing problems in Egypt. Table 4 shows these solutions. According to Table 4 findings, the main solutions to ecotourism marketing problems could be summarized as: raising the awareness of local people towards the importance of ecotourism, training tourism guides in the field of ecotourism activities, developing ecotourism destinations in the areas of tourism superstructure and infrastructure, developing the employee’s skills in the field of foreign languages, preparing an effective system for providing suitable transport modes & ecotourism services, designing a suitable information system for ecotourism services and facilities, and creating a kind of cooperation between ecotourism stakeholders in Egypt. Consistency of Solutions to Ecotourism Marketing Problems The chi-square test for ecotourism marketing problems equals 12.938 and it is statistically significant (chi-square sig. = 0.044, less than 0.05). The chi-square test for ecotourism marketing problem solutions equals 32.746 and it is statistically significant (chi-square sig. = 0.000, less than 0.05). According to the correlation coefficient analysis, the correlation coefficient between the solutions of ecotourism marketing problems and the problem elements is very high and is statistically significant (r = 0.94, sig. = 0.000, less than 0.05 at the 0.01 level, two-tailed). Depending on the regression model analysis, the determinant coefficient is 0.89. This means that the suggested solutions interpret about 89% of ecotourism marketing problems in Egypt. The regression equation is statistically significant (F sig. = 0.000, less than 0.05). The t-test for the solutions as an indepen-

ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

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Table 3 Ecotourism Marketing Problems in Egypt Problems

N

%

Rank

Lack of the suitable information about ecotourism destinations. Shortage in tourism facilities. There are almost no ecotourism guides. Lack of ecotourism services providers such as transporters and desert guides. Tourism companies face difficulties in obtaining security licenses. Lack of brochures and maps related to ecotourism destinations. Lack of skills for designing ecotourism programs.

12 12 15 15 12 24 6 96

12.5 12.5 15.6 15.6 12.5 25.0 6.3 100

2 2 3 3 2 1 4

dent variable, X, is significant (t sig. = 0.000, less than 0.05). The regression model that explains the relationship between the ecotourism marketing problems as a dependent variable, Y, and ecotourism marketing problem solutions as an independent variable, X, can be summarized in the following equation. Y = 0.121 + 1.630X (t = 1.394, sig. 0.164) (t = 27.694, sig. 0.000) where Y = a dependent variable of ecotourism marketing problems, and X = an independent variable of ecotourism marketing problem solutions. According to the results of the focus group discussions and the questioner responses’ notices, the main challenges that face ecotourism resources management in Egypt are lack of suitable skills in the area of ecotourism resources management, marketing, and business, weak capacity of local governments in terms of the sustainable management of tourism natural resources and green marketing management, inadequate accountability and

transparency in the handling of public funds and revenues by local communities’ leaders, and lack of efficient monitoring mechanisms or frameworks to follow up the application of ecotourism criteria. Conclusions and Implications There are positive attitudes of locals towards sustainability requirements and there is a degree of misunderstanding on the concept of ecotourism for many tourism companies and agencies in Egypt. To maximize the benefits from ecotourism resources management and minimize negative impacts of mass tourism on natural environmental sites and surrounding communities, all stakeholders must commit themselves to following some principles and guidelines in their designing to decisions relating to investments and operations; in a concerted effort, also direct and indirect forms of government intervention might be inevitable to sustain the protection of natural resources and the equitable distribution of economic benefits from tourism development processes. At the same time, incentives have to be provided to the private sector

Table 4 Ecotourism Marketing Problems Solutions Problems Raising the awareness of local people towards the importance of ecotourism. Training tourism guides in the field of ecotourism activities. Developing the employee’s skills in the field of foreign languages. Developing ecotourism destinations in the areas of tourism superstructure and infrastructure. Preparing an effective system for providing suitable transport modes & ecotourism services. Designing a suitable information system for ecotourism services and facilities. Creating a kind of cooperation between ecotourism stakeholders in Egypt.

N

%

Rank

27 27 24 27 19 8 2 134

20.1 20.1 17.9 20.1 14.2 6.0 1.5 100

1 1 2 1 3 4 5

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to encourage financial investment in development activity that adheres to the principles of sustainable tourism. Also, the research results explained that it is necessary to develop a new marketing strategy for ecotourism in Egypt using suitable tourism marketing policies. However, tourism must not be overcontrolled or planned. Tourism planning should be openended enough to allow spontaneous and innovative growth. Tourism activities have to be planned at all level with such restraint that travelers can be free to obtain the enriching rewards of discovery, adventure, and achievement. Planned physical settings, programs, political action, management decisions, and marketing policies can and should foster, not inhibit, the individual originality and personal satisfaction that can be derived only from travel and tourism activities. If domestic travel is to break down the barriers of parochialism, and if international tourism is to stimulate world understanding and peace, all strategies, policies, and practices of planning/control must be so dynamic and flexible that these objectives are assured. Planning or control strategies, policies, concepts, and processes are merely tools, not ends. Also, it is necessary to develop new marketing policies for ecotourism in Egypt, taking into consideration the importance of ecotourism principles in the stages of tourism product design and consumption. References Benavides, D. D., & Perez-Ducy, E. (2001, May). Tourism in the least developed countries. World Tourism Organization, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Brussels. Bonn, M. A., Joseph, S. & Dai, M. (2005). An empirical analysis of ecogeneralists visiting Florida: 1998–2003. Tourism Analysis, 10(2), 165–184. Buckley, R. C. (2001). Ecotourism accreditation in Australia. In X. Font & R. C. Buckley (Eds.), Tourism ecolabelling: Certification and promotion of sustainable management. UK: CABI Publishing. European Commission. (1995). Green Paper on Tourism, DGXXIII. Brussels: Author. Filho, A. P. (1998). Environment/culture/tourism: Recommendations for a harmonic relationship. In International Scientific Conference on Tourism in the 21st Century, “Tourism Development & Environmental Control,” Egypt. Gunn, C. A. (1994). Tourism planning, basics, concepts, cases. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.

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ECOTOURISM RESOURCES MANAGEMENT resource management: International parks along the US–Canada border. In B. Bramwell & B. Lane (Eds.), Tourism collaboration and partnerships, politics. Practice and sustainability (pp. 20–43). Clevedon, UK: Channel View Publications. UN ESCAP. (2001). Promotion of investment in tourism infrastructure. New York: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. United Nations Environment Program. (2002). Global environment outlook 3, past, present and future perspectives. Sterling, VA: Earthscan Publishing Ltd. United Nations Environment Project. (2001). About ecotourism. New York: Author. Wahab, S. (2001). Middle East. In A. Lockwood & S. Medlik (Eds.), Tourism and hospitality in the 21st century. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Wahab, S. E. A. (1997). Tourism development in Egypt: Competitive strategies and implications. In C. Cooper & S. Wanhill (Eds.), Tourism development: Environmental and community issues. London: John Wiley & Sons. Wearing, S., & Neil, J. (1999). Ecotourism: Impacts, potentials and possibilities. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Wight, P. A. (2001). Environmental management tools in Canada: Ecolabelling and best benchmarking. In X. Font & R. C. Buckley (Eds.), Tourism ecolabelling, certification and promotion of sustainable management. UK: CABI Publishing. Wood, M. E., & Halpenny, E. A. (2001). Ecotourism certification and evaluation: Progress and prospects. In X.

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