Tourism

Egypt: Making a comeback

After a rocky start to the year, tourism, the Egyptian economy's biggest foreign currency earner, staged a comeback over the summer and fall, revealing that the global slowdown's impact on the sector has turned out to be relatively moderate. The Ministry of Tourism announced in October that Egypt saw a 6.4 per cent drop in tourism revenue in the first nine months of 2009. The number of tourist arrivals fell 5.4 per cent in the same period, indicating that tourists had reduced their vacation spending during the crisis. Though showing an overall decline, these figures do demonstrate a significant recovery from what was a difficult first quarter. In January, investment bank EFG-Hermes reported hotel occupancy rates of only 40-45 per cent in Egypt, resulting in the widespread layoffs of workers. Its forecast that tourist arrivals would shrink 18 per cent in 2009, however, has not proved true. "We started the year down 17 per cent and as we have been going along, the figures have lessened," said the minister of tourism, Zoheir Garranah. "I think we'll see full recovery by the third quarter of 2010." His prediction was right: in November, the ministry announced Egypt had received 10.9 million tourists this year, only a 4.5 per cent drop over the same period in 2008.

Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve showcased as eco-tourism model at UN conference

Leading environmentalists, academics, government officials and eco-tourism experts visited Al Maha Desert Resort '&' Spa in late December, after a three-day conference identified the award-winning property as the region's leading sustainable eco-tourism development. Organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water, the Sustainable Eco-Tourism in Desert Ecosystems conference in Dubai was arranged to discuss sustainable development, conservation of natural resources and tourism growth. A benchmark in the conference discussions was the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR); the first and largest protected wildlife conservation area in the UAE, formally recognized as a Protected Area by UNEP, and also home to Emirates' exclusive Al Maha property.

Abu Dhabi to step up overseas tourism promotions in 2010

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), which manages, helps develop and promotes the emirate’s tourism industry, is to step up its destination international promotional program in 2010. The authority is to mount destination pavilions at 20 overseas fairs next year – three more than this year – with first-time participation in exhibitions in the emerging markets of India, Spain and Malaysia. And in a move to spur stakeholders on to engage in the intensified program, the authority is pegging its industry participation fees for major fairs to take into account market maturity and discounting those for emerging markets from between 11 – 50 per cent.