Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah declared that tourism revenues this year are expected to reach $10 billion (25% more than last year), affirming that the global economic crisis would not cause losses to tourism this year as the crisis has been on for just few months. Speaking at a conference organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Hurghada yesterday in cooperation with the Tourism Promotion Authority, he ascribed the rise in the number of tourists to the successful promotion campaign that the Ministry of Tourism has been carrying out since last year. He explained the ministry has prepared special plans to preserve the marine environment by monitoring and controlling violations in the sea. He said a decree has been issued to form a special room to protect coral reefs and prevent any violation against them. He pointed out that the environmental law has become tougher, as transgressors can be jailed and be levied a fine of millions of Egyptian pounds. Tourism Promotion Authority Chairman Amru Ezab announced the creation of special programs to support tourist facilities which have enhanced their environmental performance, apply environmental criteria and have been internationally acknowledged as environmentally friendly. He explained that the Authority would support these facilities by setting a special program to promote tourism and that they would have a special situation compared to other non environmentally-concerned facilities. The director of the Red Sea branch of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) said the tourism minister has decided to increase compensation for the ecological damage suffered by marine environment in the Red Sea area and ordered that all violations be referred to the public prosecutor. UNEP official Luigi Cabrini praised the performance of Egyptian facilities and hotels, especially in Hurghada, and said that they outdo Middle East hotels in applying ecological criteria. The UNEP has announced that the hotels of El-Gouna resort in Hurghada have won the Green Star award, adding this is the first time that such prize has gone to Egypt and the Middle East. The program said these hotels have succeeded in applying global environmental specifications to achieve sustainable development. Dr. Basel, an official of the UNEP, said the Program, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Environment and several tourist organizations in Egypt, has organized training courses for several hotels in the country. He described this initiative as unprecedented in Egypt and the Middle East and said it started with El-Gouna hotels. He added that these courses lasted many months and introduced global environmental specifications for hotels, especially how to rationalize the use of energy, the methods to build an environmentally-friendly building, wastes recycling and hotels' self-sufficiency in terms of vegetables, cattle and dairy products (all produced or grown in El-Gouna). He explained that winning this award means for hotels having implemented the conditions set by some of the world's major tourist organizations when they reach an agreement with the hotels located in countries with tourist attractions. It also means that hotels follow environmental specifications, he said, adding that this would contribute to boosting tourism in Egypt.
