Faiyum on Ecotourism Map

http://www.algomhuria.net.eg/gazette/4/

"The Egyptian tourism product is unique and rich in diversity. Until now, it hasn't been yet covered and there are lots of tourism products in Egypt that are still not used properly. Let's take a look at the map of Egypt, which will show that we are still taking our first steps in using such products. Despite all the huge sums spent on investments and promotion campaigns we are like a person who is filling a bucket from the sea. Whenever you search Egypt, you'll find more and more that could be used in tourism. Thus, it is not the role of one generation only, it is actually the role of the whole extended life. One of those unused sources is the environment tourism.

It now attracts hundreds and sometimes thousands; but it actually could attract much more than this, without leaving any bad effects on the environment.Egypt could do a lot in the field of environment tourism, but we are just in need of an ambitious plan as well as investments and investors, in addition to promotion.

I believe that there are enormous efforts exerted in this regard on the part of the Egyptian Tourism Authority. The Authority has prepared numerous projects such as the operations of sweeping the Red Sea shores; the migrating birds to Egypt and the numerous environment tourism projects in areas as Edku, Wadi el-Notron, Fayoum, Toshka and others. There is no doubt that the Egyptian Tourist Authority has also played an important role in developing the environment in some areas in Egypt, such as the Religions Complex in Misr al-Qadima.Cooperation between the ministries of Tourism and Environment has always been ideal, simply because there is a kind of integration between them. That's how tourism operates, it always interacts with other ministries and authorities such as civil aviation, maritime transportation, antiquities and others. Cooperation between tourism and environment took various forms. In a recent meeting between Tourism Minister Ahmed El Maghraby and Environment Minister Maged George, environmental tourism was the main topic of conversation, as it is an important tourist type that the Tourism Ministry is keen to encourage and develop. In the meantime, the improvement of the environment tourism leads to a development and improvement of the whole tourism industry; which in turn leads to a development of the whole society and the surrounding regions. Nevertheless, the development of environmental tourism usually takes place within the context of various regulations; the most important of which is the protection of the environmental privileges and characteristics.

Egypt is rich in marvellous spots and natural reserves. They are considered as tourist sites. Egypt is also rich in the spots of migrating birds starting from the Mediterranean coast to the lakes inside and from the Red Sea coast to the Nasser Lake. All of those marvellous spots attract lots of tourists, but they are in need of more investments and more promotion plans. The meeting of the two ministers was attended by a number of investors and was also attended by my dear friend Mahmoud el-Qaisouni, Chairman of the Environment Committee at the Egyptian Federation for Tourism Associations. The meeting dealt with a number of regions such as the oases and Fayoum and the possibility of developing them into tourist attraction sites. Ahmed El Maghraby said that a few number of hotels could be established in every village, with limited number of rooms. The style of building could be through the use of natural materials, so that they would look different from the hotels in cities. Every investor could start in one of those regions, starting with Fayoum. Maghraby said that Fayoum should be given the biggest efforts. Minister Maged George agreed and said that a number of plans have already been prepared for this regard.

Fayoum has many characteristics, the most important is that it is quite near to Cairo and its suitableness to both the rural and environment tourism. It is also rich in tourist attraction sites, rare plants and animals. It contains also one of the biggest geological tombs in the African Continent, as it is rich in fossils that date back to million of years. It is also one of the most popular regions that attract migrating birds. Yet, there are lots of obstacles hindering the tourist investments in the region, especially the Qaroun Lake and its pollution.Tourist development would be accompanied by a development of the population and all the surrounding areas, which would be reflected on the whole community. We are just looking forward to untraditional programmes."

This is the full article on the Egyptian Gazette website.

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