In order for Egypt and the Red Sea Coast to remain a viable world-class tourism destination, the country must adopt a development strategy that will conserve the cultural and natural assets that give the region its competitive advantage.

To maintain and increase international tourism, integrated resort centers featuring world-class amenities and facilities and specialized eco-lodges catering to niche markets will have to be developed and marketed alongside the traditional archaeological tourism market in the Nile Valley. A key challenge for the tourism industry will be to maintain and enhance the environmental, aesthetic, and service quality of the Red Sea Coast through public/private sector priority-setting, shared decision-making and cooperation.

To support this objective, USAID and GreenCOM partnered to increase public awareness of the integral link between preservation of the marine environment and sustainable Red Sea tourism. Project activities included environmental education workshops for teachers, signage design and installation, development of publications and educational materials, and promotion of environmental ‘best practices’ among tourists, developers, area service providers, and local communities.

Egypt: Red Sea Sustainable Tourism factsheet (1.138MB PDF) UN-WTO Sustainable Tourism Forum presentation (2.179MB PPT, 3 KB HTML)