ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 114

Introduction and Background The percentage of rural population in Egypt is 57% (World Bank 2008). A typical Egyptian rural settlement is a compact agricultural village surrounded by intensively cultivated fields. The villages range in population from 500 to more than 10,000. They are almost similar in physical appearance and design throughout the country, except for minor local variations in building materials, design, and decoration. Until comparatively recently, the only source of drinking water was the Nile; consequently, many of the villages are built along the banks of its canals (Britannica Encyclopedia 2002). About 99% of the rural population has an access to water and 93% accessed to sanitation network. Egypt has reached the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without proper access to safe water and sanitation by 2015 ahead of time in 2008 (World Bank 2008). However, according to the government report of the same year, Egypt was still off track to achieve the sanitation target in rural areas, especially in Upper Egypt and in frontier governorates. Currently, poverty percentage in rural Egypt is about 30% of total villages, 30% are suffering from pollution and 28% is the percentage of unemployment according to the Ministry of Economic Development. The same problems are continuously reappearing as a result of the improper practices of the population. The most noticed one is the unauthorized construction in locations where the needed infrastructure is not available or not enough. The countryside is attractive by the culture flavour given to it by the people living in it. It consists of overlapping social spaces with their own logic, institution, and networks of actors. The attractiveness of the countryside lies in what urban life cannot give. Rural Tourism can be an important force for developing disadvantaged rural areas. In particular, rural communities with few other options for development may perceive that tourism represents a panacea for growth (Aref and Gill 2009). Nowadays, rural tourism has turned into a leading economic activity and studies show a positive relationship between developing rural tourism and an increase in income, it can be a suitable way to enhance economic advantage and employment (Egbali et al. 2011). Rural tourism became very popular especially in the economically developed countries. It is its economically and socially positive impact which allows farmers to gain additional financial sources and create new job positions for other local people. In fact, it is a very positive and ecological form of tourism. Unlike the uncontrolled mass and purely commercial tourism, rural tourism leisure activities have a very low negative impact on the environment (Simkova 2007). However, making use of the tourism attractions in such rural areas needs solving not only the problems of the fresh water, but solving serious visually, healthy and environmentally problems caused by the insufficient draining water system in most of the rural villages as well. Regarding Egypt, the Egyptian rural tourism takes a modest position in comparison with the other tourism types. Although rural tourism is a key element in the development process, it is underestimated in Egypt as it is often viewed as recreation, not business. It is rarely included in the rural villages’ development schemes as the rural tourism activities are not taken seriously within the proposed tools to achieve sustainability in the Egyptian villages. This is due to the absence of the actual realization of the importance of such activity in poor areas in addition to the lack of awareness, the lack of good marketing plans, the lack of an institutional framework, the lack of the tourism work force, the lack of information about the problems and challenges and the available components of the rural tourism in Egypt. Moreover, the bad reputation of the Egyptian rural areas especially the agricultural villages - due to the low level of services, infrastructure and the natural pollution- is negatively reflected on this industry. 112 ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy