The Red Sea resort of El-Gouna is a perfect example of the new Egyptian strategy of tourist destination development. Initiated, owned and partially managed by Orascom Telecom, El-Gouna offers an integrated tourist complex with golf courses, marina, hotels of different categories, private villas and apartments, as well as a wide range of infrastructural facilities like a hospital, a school, employees’ housing, a mosque, a church, power plant, wastewater treatment plant, desalination station and even a small airfield. The success story of El-Gouna encouraged Orascom to initiate further similar projects, albeit on a smaller scale, in Sinai “Taba Heights” and in Aqaba “Tala Marina”. The development of such complexes was made possible by the special investment regulations in the Red Sea region and the availability of vast areas of virgin coast line.
Another luxurious tourist complex was initiated by the Kuwaiti Al-Kharafi Group: Port Ghalib is located along the southern Egyptian Red Sea coast near Marsa Alam International Airport, which is owned by the same group. A total area of 22 million square meters with 18 km of pristine beachfront is going to be developed into the tourist complex. The fully integrated project includes a marina with berthing facilities for up to 1000 yachts, making it the biggest in the region. The first class South African hotel group Sun International will manage 940 rooms in three differently themed hotels. Shangri La and other hotel chains are also involved in this project. An exhibition center, casino, golf course and international diving center are planned, among other multiple entertainment attractions and sports facilities.
The environmentally-friendly engineering solutions are indeed exemplary, not only for the Red Sea region, but world wide. The huge marina was built without damaging the coral reefs and vital elements of the marine ecological system. The Egyptian government has declared the southern Red Sea as “an environmentally protected area open to ecologically-friendly tourism”. It appears that El-Gouna and Port Ghalib are harbingers of future tourist development in this region.
These are the findings of an international research network studying tourist development in the Arab world. For further information contact: Dr. Ala Al-Hamarneh, ceraw@uni-mainz.de, www.ceraw.uni-mainz.de
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