Heritage Tourism On Archaeological Sites In Egypt Tourism Essay

heritage touristry On Archaeological Sites In Egypt touristry EssayEgypt is fixed in the North- Eastern corner of Africa and South-Western Asia and is commonly known as The Motherland of the humans Land of Civilizations and The Greatest Power in Human History being reputable for its 7,000-year-old record of civilization and immense wealth of knowledge (SIS, 2011). Amongst wholly civilizations and nations, Egypt is known to be one of the conceptions oldest holidaymaker destinations, possessing one third of the worlds ancient monuments deep down its country. Besides its other archaeological and ethnical monuments, the disc everyplacey of the Pharaonic antiquities long time ago has added a special appeal to Egypt, therefore boosting Egypts touristry pains. However, with the thriving increase in Egypts touristry, conflicts and issues starts to surface concerning the attention and conservation of the ancient Egyptian archaeological sites and treasures.What determines Egyp t is its massive number of archaeological sites that wad be found alone over the country and of course, its extraordinary architectural and hereditary pattern attractions such as the legendary Pyramids of Giza, the world-famous Valley of the Kings and the temple at Abu Simbel. These well-known and remarkable sites ar the lifeblood of the countrys touristry industry where it attracts over 2 million visitors annually to Egypt (Boniface and Cooper, 2001).Despite being one of the most exceedingly industrialized country in the Arab region, Egypts petroleum and delivery is not sufficient to provide adequate amount of jobs to its population of 73 million (e.g. Boniface and Cooper, 2001 MINTEL, 2004). It is also mentioned by Weeks and Hetherington (2006) that touristry has been a key promoter in Egypts economy for about the last two centimeuries and over the last generation. It has beat a crucial component of the economy and is now the source of 45 percent of the countrys annual foreign currency earnings. Therefore touristry in Egypt plays a lively role of support for its economy where it benefits both the government and to all levels of the society.One of the main components of the tourism industry in Egypt is heritage tourism. Heritage itself as a concept has entered on to a global stage and penetrated into the local, regional and national bena (Burnett, 2001). The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) states that heritage and burnish stand become an important element in almost 40 per cent of all international trips taken (Timothy and Boyd, 2003) and despite of recession, heritage tourism s cashbox go along to grow (Hanna, 1993, cited in Timothy and Boyd, 2003). Throughout the world, ancient venues and archaeological monuments perplex become major tourism attractions (Laws, 2011) and one such destination is Egypt where the impacts of flourishing heritage tourism on ancient archaeological sites are apparent finished out the country.However, in spite of the thriving tourism industry in Egypt, conflicts and issues starts to arise that contradicts Egypts own tourism interest. In put together to maximize receipts from the tourism industry, Egypt implement the approach of opening more sites to visitors and promoting visits through advertising and high profile overseas tours of antiquities (Weeks and Hetherington, 2006). Ironically, the benefits of expanding Egypts tourism are being out weigh by the negative aspects. Lambert (2011) states that a bustling tourist industry is sadly known to be a double-edged sword. She added that, as most archaeological sites are very fragile and ancient, they were not meant to sustain thousands of visitors on a daily basis. The overcrowding of tourists visiting, touching and stepping onto these sites, are destroying m whatsoever archaeological attractions.One such incident happened in February of 1988. A chunk of limestone fell from the Egyptian Sphinx, the half lion, half man relic built by the ancient Egyptians over 4,000 years ago. Recently on January 2011, Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities had announced plans to close the tomb of Tutankhamen to tourists by the end of the year. The tomb, which was discovered somewhat 89 years ago, was damaged as a result of the overpowering visits of tourist, particularly over the prehistoric three decades (http//www.redorbit.com).The mass tourism in Egypt has also impacted the Valley of the Kings, altering the forcible and natural aspects of the purlieu. According to Gaetano Palumbo, the programme director for North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia for the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving and protecting endangered diachronic sites around the worldOne could say that, the heritage sites in Egypt are victims of their own success. In the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, visitor numbers agree almost doubled in the yesteryear 10 years, from 1.5 million to close to 3 million, with peaks o f 10,000 visitors a day. This creates massive problems in visitor management. Drastic terminations may see to be taken in order to regulate visitor numbers, including temporary or perm closures of ancient sites.Due to poor tourism and cultural heritage management, Bindlegas (1997) states that the decay of some of the worlds most pleasing ancient relics has been happening at a shocking rate. These major archaeological and cultural heritage sites represent the origins of human civilization and provide the best evidences of the historic and cultural development of humanity (Global Heritage Fund, 2010). If measures are not taken to start preserving and conserving the ancient monuments, it leave behind be completely destroyed in spite of appearance centuries.However, change magnitude the tourism receipts into Egypt and on the other hand, conserving these heritage sites is not as simple as it seems. Leask (2006) described that balancing the development of tourism opportunities and heritage conservation activities has been a continuous struggle for countries with tourism and cultural heritage management. The different parties involved are unable to decide on the same agreement, resulting in the wish of proper management that rear end benefit both the tourism and conservation of the ancient Egyptian archaeological sites and treasures.Therefore this paper aims to identify the variables that constitute and plug into to the impacts of heritage tourism on archaeological sites in Egypt.AIMTo assess the impacts of heritage tourism on archaeological sites in EgyptOBJECTIVES To review secondary publications about the environmental impacts of heritage tourism on archaeological sites in Egypt.To study the conflict between heritage and tourism in Egypt.To assess the management and conservation of archaeological sites in Egypt.CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEWDEFINING TOURISMAccording to the Advance Release of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Baromete r, international tourism showed a strong recovery of almost 7% to 935 million in 2010, from the 4% decline during the global economic crisis in 2009. Through the decades, tourism is now known as one of the largest industry in the world, experiencing dynamic improvements and intense diversification, leading it to become one of the worlds fastest maturation economic area (e.g. Youell, 1998 World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2011)). Therefore, prior to assessing the impacts of heritage tourism on archaeological sites in Egypt, it is first essential to define and find the term tourism.Even in early researches, the term tourism had yielded, as many definitions as there were many studies of phenomenon (Cohen, 1974, cited in Wall and Mathieson, 2006). Guyer-Feuler who concentrated on the economical and statistical aspects of tourism, conceived the first definition of tourism in 1905, where it defined tourism asA phenomenon unique to modern time which is qualified on the peoples increas ing need for a change and relaxing, the wish of recognizing the beauties of nature and art and the belief that nature gives happiness to human beings and which helps nations and communities approaching to each other thank to the developments in commerce and industry and the communication and transportation tools becoming excellent. (Bahar, 2005 2, as cited in Esen and Uyar, 2010)The origin of the term tourism goes back to the 17th century where the ancestry word tour is derived from the Hebrew word torah which means learning and examining. People who were sent on a voyage to explore distant areas to learn the kindly activities of the population living in those places are known by the Hebrews as tourist and the behaviour as touring. (Bahar, 2005)Some other few pioneers who attempted to define tourism were Professor Hunzikar and Krapf (1941, cited in Holloway, 19941) of Berne University who states that it isThe sum of phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of n on-resident, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected to any earning habit.Holloway (1994) then continues that tourism, besides being associated as a form of recreation or leisure it expertness be where individuals or a group of individuals travel away from home. However, Holloway (1994) also questioned the specificity of the statement on whether tourism is defined by its purpose or the outdistance travelled. Indeed, it is a common perception and a popular understanding amongst people that the central aspects of tourism evolves around holidays, leisure and tours, engaging in different kinds of activities to have a good time and as long as being in a foreign land, it is considered to be tourism regardless of the distance travelled. However, tourism is more than just a cursory explanation of leisure, recreation and being in a foreign land.In 1993, after much reviews, researches and further depth psychology on existing works of tourism definitions, the UNWTO (1993, cited in Youell, 19989), with co-operations from many international organizations, finally announced the officially accepted definition asthe activities of persons locomotion to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.Therefore with the multitude of tourism definitions given by researchers and studies, which of these, can academics, organizations and professionals use as an accurate guideline in the tourism industry? In spite of the existence of many variations of tourism definitions and the popularity of tourism studies in recent decades, it has been discussed and acknowledged by academic researchers, organizations and industry professionals that there has been no specific means in defining the principal concept of the term tourism due to its large complex nature of subject, involving diverse combinations of disciplines and industry sectors (e.g. Morley, 1990 Youell, 1998 Goeldner, Ritchie and McIntosh, 2000 Dredge and Jenkins, 2007).Moreover, regardless of the complications of specifying definitions for tourism, tourism is nothing without the tourists. The main itemor that drives tourism is the tourists who are travelling and therefore any effort to understand tourism as a concept has to first understand the motivations behind the tourists decision to travel. Also, the definition of tourism is dependent on an individuals perspectives and perception of tourism and also how it allow fit into a particular purpose or situation (Dredge and Jenkins, 2007). In addition, the changes of the different definitions since the early 1900s cashbox the present day demonstrates that tourism can no longer be associated to merely economics and geography (Arlt, 2010). As time passes with the continuous growth of the industry, researches into the concepts of tourism will persist to expand, yettually resulting in the creation of more definitions of tourism.IMPACTS O F TOURISMTourism is an integration of close interactions involving the dynamic relationships of different variables or elements in the tourism travel process and thus, it can never be a standalone unit. Hence, any changes or effects to a variable will create a wave effect within the whole tourism structure. With this, contributions made by the growth of the tourism industry will therefore lead to an change magnitude economic activity within the country. Countries are increasingly becoming dependent on tourism, as it is one of the most rational and sustainable development choices that have the capability of creating employment to the communities and also acting as a main provision of foreign earnings to the economy. (UNWTO, 2010 Tourism and the Millennium Development Goals)While it is often the economic impacts of tourism that businesses and public organizations that are usually interested in (Stynes, 1999), the late twentieth century saw the emergence of environmental and socio-c ultural impacts of tourism being controversial and critical issues discussed in tourism study (Youell, 1998). As the main objective of this paper aims to concentrate on the impacts of heritage tourism on the archaeological sites in Egypt, this naval division will therefore provide an overview of the positive and negative influences that tourism, in general, have on the economic, environment and socio- glossiness around the world.Economic ImpactsIt is predicted that by 2020, revenues earned from the tourism industry will be $1.5 trillion (Kumar and Prasad, n.d). Tourism being declared as one of the worlds largest industry is similar to any other businesses and industries affecting the economy by generating income for the countrys economy, stimulating job opportunities for the people from the international level down to the local levels. Increasing competiveness amongst countries has also pushed the business capacity of the tourism industry to the level of, or, sometimes even exceedi ng trade commodities such as oil and food exports (UNWTO, 2011).Tourism being a major player in the service sector is naturally dependent on labor therefore stimulating a great deal of employment opportunities both in developed and developing countries. The fact that tourism is an intergration of many various individual elements in a tourism travel process, the economic impacts from tourism will therefore affect industries in the twist sector, agriculture sector, commercial services sector such as retail and customer services and also the health and finance sector (e.g. Wall and Mathieson, 2006 -nder and Durgu, 2007). touring car expenditures contributing to the balance of payments through foreign exchange earnings, and revenue generated from tourism developments can represent a crucial source of income for a nations economy (Balaguer Cantavella-Jorda, 2002, cited in Seetanah, 2010). However on a negative note, seasonal tourism also known as induced employment, being influenced by the increase in the choose and supply of tourism causes the increase of low-paying jobs and often creating unemployment during off-peak seasons (Kreag, 2001). Peak periods of tourism can benefit the economy of a country, however on the expense of the locals, who might have to pay for the higher prices of goods and services in the community, thus increasing their cost of living. However, contributions of tourism to a countrys economic benefits is relative to factors such as the availability of facilities and resources, the countrys sociable and political stability, the host communities behavior towards tourist and the amount of investment injected by the government into tourism projects and development (Youell, 1998).Environmental ImpactsThe relationship between tourism and the physical environment, natural or man-made, is firmly interlinked and complicated. Controversial debates of tourism and the environment have been going on in determining whether they are friends or foes. The physical environment is an important aspect of tourism it ensures the sustainability of attracting tourism in the long run. In fact, it is impossible to define the different types of tourism without the inclusion of the environment (Safakli, n.d). A tourists decision to travel and the duration of stay depends on the physical environment of the destination. According to Olali (2000), the estimation given by academics states that in the next 100 years, the environment will be the only option that will determine the essential of tourism. The environmental impacts of tourism can be reason into two categories which are postive and negative impacts, and conclusion a balanced relationship with the environment is uncommon, if not, there is hardly a balanced relationship (Holden, 2000).The negative impacts of tourism on the environment caused by the increased in tourist visitations are visible through the changes, damages and depletion of natural resources, causing the destruction of wild life habitat, improper waste disposal, air and water pollutions, and also eroding of the natural landscape such as the mountains and historical sites (e.g. Youell, 1998 Holden, 2000 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2001 Wall and Mathieson, 2006). The lack of facilities and space to accommodate the increase in tourist visitations results in the overcrowding and the over usage of an environment, therefore also increasing improper waste disposal, loss of significant attractions and unethical behaviors due to the lack of supervision over the large number of visitors. The detrimental state of the environment will then lose its beauty and attractiveness to these tourists therefore causing a decline in tourist visitations.Despite of the attention on the negative impacts of tourism on the environment, there are still positive impacts of tourism that benefits the environment. Contradictory to the cause of adulteration of these natural resources, the motivating factor behind a t ourists decision to travel to these places are based on the sentimental attachment they have with the environments (Kreag, 2001). And because these environments are what attracted tourists visits in the first place, conservation efforts are heighened to keep them well managed, and protected from further deterioration. The positive environmental impacts of tourism are sometimes associated to the economic value of tourism earned revenue (Holden, 2000). The increase of tourism travel to a destination also increases the tourism funds flowing into the countrys economy. This additional funds allows governments to use the added revenue from its tourist industry to implement measures into proper management and invest in the restoration of the environment such as construction of new roads to accommodate overcrowding of vehicles, building and upgrading facilities to attract or accommodate the influx of visitors and installing modern technologies into the conservation and preservation of sens itive areas (e.g. UNEP, 2001 Kreag, 2001). And as tourism travel increases, the impacts on the environment are also increasing. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for government agencies and tourism organizations to focus on the preservation and conservation of the environment.When the environment is restored to its original state or even better, the flow of visitors into the destination will resume once again. However if there is a lack of proper management or close facilitation of the situation, the environment will eventually return back to its damaged state. The attempt to balance the positive and negative aspects of the impacts of tourism on the environment tends go round a venomous cycle. This is where the importance of strategic planning intervenes and it is a crucial part of sustainable tourism of a destination.Socio-cultural ImpactsThe inclusion of social impact studies is an essential criterion for any tourism industry and tourism government agencies planning for a sus tainable tourism industry as it provides an insight of the support for tourism development within host communities (e.g. Nyaupane and Thapa, 2006 Zhang et al., 2006 Tovar and Lockwood, 2008 Deery, Jago and Fredline, 2011). Social cultural impacts on a destinations society such as traditions, identity, lifestyle, values and customs, are the results of the direct and indirect interactions between the host communities, the tourists and the tourism industry. These impacts of tourism development on the local society are identified through the evaluation of residents perceptions and behaviors towards tourism (Tovar and Lockwood, 2008). Regardless of the magnitude of the fluctuations of tourism demand, the impact on the host community will not only be dependent on the number of tourist arrivals but the type of tourist (Holloway, 2002). Of which, these impacts can either have a positive or negative influence on the society.Firstly, improvements of infrastructures resulted from tourism deve lopment such as clean water and stable telecommunications, better transportation and banking services, and new business investments are positive impacts that contributes in enriching the local communities way of life (http//www.gawler.sa.gov.au). Tourism also helps in boosting the quality of life in the society and provides opportunities for locals to experience cultural exchange and interactions with the rest of the world. The accumulative experience gained from engaging in the cultural exchange with visitors enhances the host communities ability to interact well and confidently with future potential visitors in the long run. Having an influx of tourist arrivals to a destination can also encourage the preservation and conservation of cultural values and traditional customs which are in danger of losing its identity. The increased interest of tourists into the culture and traditions of the local society also helps to push the demand for historical and cultural education and local to urism agencies will be pressured to step up on preservation and conservation of possible endangered ancient sites, monuments or artifacts (Kreag, 2001).Despite of the positive and inspiring socio-cultural impacts of tourism on a host environment, the negative impacts of tourism, on the other hand, can equally cause a prominent damage on a culture. Ironically, instead of riviving a bemused culture, the continuous development of tourism driven by the influx of tourist demand can very well cause the same cultural identity and value of the host communities to change and this issue has raised concerns amongst tourism organizations. This normally happens when local communites conformed to the needs, wants and desires of tourists expectations in the bid to respond to their growing demands. As such, this conformity leads to the commercialization of local culture into a commodity and the modification of traditional art and craft forms, resulting it to become reconstructed ethnicity which m ight end up causing the eradication of cultural goods (www.coastlearn.org).One of the negative aspect on the social status of a culture is the social differences between the host and the tourists. According to Mathieson and Wall (2006), more often than not, social tensions between host communities and tourists happens in developing countries whereby the tourist market are from a country with higher foreign currency rate than the host communities and thus unintentionally highlighting the disparity of wealth. They also mentioned that since the nature of tourism involves the act of people around geographical locations, social conflicts occur as a result of differences in cultures, values, lifestyles and languages.TOURISM AND HERITAGEDefining Heritage in TourismWith the growth of the tourism sector, the types of tourist are also diversified and the collection of individual experiences of these tourists influence the different types of tourism offered today, thus the formation of the di fferent types of tourism (Timothy and Boyd, 2003). Heritage tourism has been one of the oldest forms of tourism offered since the early ages, however in recent years, it has grown to popularity in the industry. It is the inheritance of the unrepeatable growths of life from the past that is charge preserving for the benefits admiration and education of the current and future generations (e.g. Nurick, 2000 Timothy and Boyd, 2003 Sethi, 2005 National Trust, 2011). Heritage could be anything that is tangible or intangible left behind by the past such as archaeological or historical sites that have been preserved, natural landscapes which are of a destinations significance, artifacts and documents, culture, values and sometimes even the people of the past such as the indigenous people. However over the years, heritage has been modified and commercialized to suit tourists demand and expectations, allowing it to be more accessible, attractive, educational and entertaining (Fyall and Raki c, 2006). Heritage itself as a concept has entered on to a global stage and penetrated into the local, regional and national arena (Burnett, 2001). The World Tourism Organization (WTO) states that heritage and culture have become an important element in almost 40 per cent of all international trips taken and despite of recession, heritage tourism still continued to grow (Hanna, 1993, cited in Timothy and Boyd, 2003). The different types of heritage attractions offered now are varse and wide, examples includes natural history attractions, religious attractions, sociocultural attractions, art galaries, ancestral dwellings, and genocide monuments.Fyall and Rakic (2006) adds that the demand for heritage based tourism has been on the rise because Lowenthal (1979) states that peoples sentimental reminensce of the past is deeply affected by the parallel ongoing eradication of historical antiquities plot on the other hand, Hannabuss (1999) also claims that heritage enthusiasts are immersin g themsevles in heritage for the purpose of finding a rational explanation for their post-modern lives. With the controversial issues happening in everyday life, it is no wonder that heritage yields as a touchstone in reminding people the primary essence of life. Hence, an attempt to understand the demand of heritage tourism could best be determined by initiating a study on visitor psychographic characteristics as these visitors are the primary factors pushing the demand for heritage tourism. Determining the visitor demographics can also aid in better planning and management of visitor capacity control in relation to preservation and conservation of the heritage sites which will be discussed further in the next section.According to Hall and McArthur (1993a, as cited in Timothy and Boyd, 2003), the significance of heritage can be categorised into four different areas in relation to its economic, social, political and scientific significance. The economic significance of heritage ref ers to the value of the heritage to visitors, in ground of the amount of revenue earned from visitations to the sites. The social significance refers to the personal identification that individuals have to associate themselves with their heritage. In terms of its political significance, the representations of heritage can behave as an aid in managing political issues due to its political nature behind its existance. Finally, heritage educates visitors on its history, culture and the population of a destination. It also acts as a benchmark for ecological studies on the environments and ecosystems, therefore presenting itself as a scientific significance to the people (ibid.).Impacts of Tourism on HeritageThrough the globalisation and increasing competiveness of the tourism industry, governments, tourism organizations and agencies are continuously pushed into the whirlpool of sustainable tourism development. Bramwell and Lane (1993) states that sustainable tourism development can be implemented if the balance of the economic, environmental and social aspects of the development is realised.It is certain that every country in the world will definitely have a heritage land attached to them, however, what makes heritage tourism in a country unique is the exclusiveness of the actual heritage product itself. The characteristics and uniqueness of that particular heritage product dictates the different types of visitors and the demand of heritage tourism in the destination.With tourism, comes impacts. As mentioned in earlier sections, tourism impacts the economy, environment and the socialcultural aspects of a destination. Likewise, heritage tourism being categorised into the four different aspects of significance, will therefore impact the economy, evironment and socialcultural aspects of a destination. An influx of tourist visitations can positively or negatively affect the destination in many aspects. Prosperity of the economy, job creations, improved quality of l ife are some of the positive impacts whilst seasonal unemployment, social tensions, pollution of the environment are some of the negative impacts. However when it comes to heritage, tourism is known to be impacting the environmental and sociocultural aspect of the destination more often than the economical aspect, unless otherwise, the countrys tourism economy is highly dependent on heritage tourism. Tourism is known to have an intitmate relationship with the matters of heritage conservation and preservation a significant element in deciding the survival of a countrys heritageHence, the impacts caused by tourism on heritage sites are in ways similar to that of a natural environment (pollution, lost of habitat, lost of attractiveness), however, the results and repercussions are amplified due to the uniqueness of the heritage enviroment that can never have an exact replica elsewhere in the world.CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKHeritage Sites in EgyptDemand of Tourism in EgyptIMPACTS OF TOURISM ON HERITAGE IN EGYPTPolitcal Issues in EgyptCHAPTER THREE ANALYSISGROWTH OF TOURISM IN EGYPTTourism and Heritage in EgyptThe term history can be best epitomized by the ancient Egyptian civilization than to any other ancient culture (Grimal, 1994). Egypt is probably the worlds oldest civilization from theNile Valleysince the 3,100 BC and is reputable for its extensive collection of historical record on civilization and the immense wealth of knowledge (SIS, 2011). fin thousand years ago, a glimpse start of Egyptss tourism began with the start of cruising (Goeldner, Ritchie and McIntosh, 2000). Queen Hatshepsuts first cruise journey is recorded on the walls of the Temple of Deit El Bahari in Luxor, where it states that the purpose of cruising at that era was for peace and tourism (ibid.).However the genesis of heritage tourism in Egypt could mainly be attributed by the shining and innovative grandeur infrastructure of the Pharaonic burial tombs such as the Sphinx and the other ancient Egyptian pyramids, which saw the first early arrivals of tourists. The start of tourism playing as a core role in the economy of Egypt came with the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 and after being announced by Khedive (Viceroy) Ismail that Egypt was to be part of Europe (www.thelonelyplanet.com). The Nile, Luxor, the ancient Pyramids of Giza and temples are what defines Egypt as a heritage destination.Egypts ancient civilization is an evidence of the evolution of mankind from the prehistoric days till the present. The rich history of Egypt acts as a connection to the distant past of humanity, which reveals mankinds greatest glories and achievements.Current Status of Egypts Tourism IndustryTourism in Egypt is a huge lucrative business that has flourish and become a major component in the economic development. Millions of tourists are travelling to Egypt each year, for the purpose of appreciating the teemingness of the natural and historical phenomenon within the country (www.gre enstarhotel.net). In 1995, international vis