Egypt has a clear goal, which is to improve the traveller’s experience, and the main strategy for doing so includes promoting and ensuring the well management of the environmental aspects of tourism, said Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Anany.
The strategy also includes effective communication with travellers to ensure the sustainability of tourism products and destinations and strengthening partnerships with the private sector and international bodies for nature conservation while achieving the best use of natural resources and the sustainability of tourism activity, he added.
El-Anany’s remarks came during the launch of the ‘Towards Green Development in the Tourism Sector Project’, which was held in the presence of Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad and Alessandro — the Regional Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Egypt — along with a number of representatives of ambassadors and stakeholders in the tourism industry and international media.
The minister affirmed that green tourism is one of the most important priorities of the state in the current period as per the UN’s sustainable development goals.
“Today, we are witnessing the launch of the Towards Green Development in the Tourism Sector Initiative that will be implemented in cooperation with the Egyptian Tourism Federation, which includes a number of main outputs, these being establishing guidelines for the best sustainability practices in hotel and tourism establishments and their electronic platforms, operating standards for eco-hotels, and the Green List Campaign,” El-Anany said.
Furthermore, El-Anany stressed that in order to achieve sustainability and green tourism practices, the tourism ministry is constantly cooperating with the environment ministry to integrate biodiversity conservation measures into the tourism sector in Egypt, which is carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility.
He explained that this project aims to preserve biodiversity in the development of managing the tourism sector, reducing the negative effects of the infrastructure of this sector, supporting and developing tourism by establishing a classification for responsible tourism, and supporting Egypt as a global front for ecotourism with the aim of improving the performance and sustainability of the sector.
Additionally, El-Anany pointed out the concerted efforts of all concerned authorities and the special interest the state has given to fostering eco-tourism and green tourism, easing the pressures of human activities, and spreading environmentally friendly practices as per the objectives of the ministry’s Sustainable Development Strategy, and Egypt’s 2030 Vision.
