CAIRO: In an effort to establish a fairly untapped market in Egypt, the United States Embassy in Cairo has joined with the Ministry of Tourism to launch an initiative to promote volunteer tourism. The new initiative, launched by US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey and Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garannah, will support American volunteer tourism in the Arab world's most populous country, which depends the sector as one of its main revenue earners. “Tourists want to meet everyday people and volunteer their time, there are no limits to what people can do,” Scobey told Daily News Egypt. “They can join in a meal with a host family, spend time at an orphanage, study abroad, volunteer medical services and do many other things to help,” she added. The tourism industry in Egypt contributes a significant amount to the economy by employing about 12 percent of the workforce. Garannah noted that Egypt saw over 320,000 American tourists in 2009 and there was an 18 percent growth of tourists in 2010. The number of total tourist arrivals to Egypt reached 14 million in the year to October 2010, and the sector is expected to see annual growth of not less than 18 percent by the end of 2010, Garannah told the media earlier this week. Volunteer tourism is becoming a popular trend to “do good” with the concept of tourists leaving their destination better than when they arrived. While Egypt offers plenty of cultural and historical attractions, it has much more to offer with ample opportunities to directly benefit the local population. The concept of volunteer tourism represents a growing sector of the industry called SAVE (Scientific, Academic, Volunteer, Educational) tourism, which encourages travelers to engage in scientific or academic research, learning or volunteer tourism to better their host destination. The development of volunteer tourism provides human capital and technical expertise as well as creating important interpersonal cultural connections between the tourist and local cultures. Adel Zaki, president of International Travel and Tourist Agency, said, “Volunteer tourism isn't a new trend, it is already popular among Europeans and Latin Americans and is now becoming more popular with Americans.” “Even though the new generation is technology driven, they have a need to travel and help others and that satisfies an emotion for them,” said Zaki. According to a survey conducted by Travelocity, an online travel agency, 38 percent of Americans planned a volunteer experience during a holiday in 2008. Volunteer tourism programs have been successfully implemented in many countries, including some parts of the Middle East, and have benefited the local communities as well as have been profitable for local tour operators. Zaki commented on the notion that there is no single type of volunteer tourist and ranges from young students to wealthy, older tourists and everything in between. After introducing the initiative, Scobey and Garannah led a discussion with local representatives from the tourism industry to discuss how to establish this industry in Egypt and market the program. They were joined by a visiting tourism industry expert and a tourism entrepreneurship trainer to help lead the discussion. Future events will focus on other targets, such as tourism students, rural non-governmental organizations, start-up tourism entrepreneurs and Red Sea tour operators. “We don't have to sell this to Americans; they already want to come to Egypt so it sells itself and creates a win-win situation,” said Scobey.
