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.
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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy