CAIRO – Safari tourism in Egypt is facing several obstacles, and overcoming them has become a persistent demand on the part of companies and agents working in the field. The drop in the number of tourists due to political unrest and a low security profile on the street since last January has made the need to promote safaris and all kinds of other forms of tourism the more important. “From the New Valley to Sinai and Western Desert, safari desert tourism attracted large numbers in the past few years, a matter that should prompt officials to pay much more attention to promising tourism activities,” says Mahmoud Qayssuni, an environmental affairs advisor. According to Qayssuni, the vast Egyptian deserts cover an area of 965,000 square kilometres. They are extremely rich in geological and topographical landmarks, which entitles them to become one of the best attractions for adventure tourism. However, the heavy hand of bureaucracy is posing a threat to desert tourism. Safari organisers have to get 28 permits from different security bodies before taking tourists on safari trips. According to reports of international tourism organsations, Egypt is one of the countries where safari trips are very expensive, which has ultimately persuaded many interested tourists to look for other destinations. Although 15,000 tourists visited the desert last year, experts say the number could well be increased, if safari tourism was duly promoted. As an environmental expert, Qayssuni believes that the local safari potential is particularly promising, given the changes during different geological ages covering millions of years. He explained that fossils of dinosaurs, trees, coral reefs, aquatic creatures, not to mention caves and depressions, made Egypt one of the richest safari destinations in the region. Qayssuni told Al-Ahram Arabic daily newspaper that coloured drawings from 200,000 years ago were attracting adventurers to the Western Desert. The possible loss of a major source of national income has actually motivated tourism officials to take positive action. Besides overseas tourism campaigns launched by the Ministry, officials in charge responded a few days ago to the calls of tourism companies to reduce permit fees by 70 per cent. They have also promised to facilitate the issuing of permits so tourists would not be scared off. Normally, a desert trip required security permits from the Ministry of Tourism, the National Security Department, the Armed Forces Operation, the Egyptian Intelligence, the Border Guards, the Ministry of Environment and the Tourist Police, and applications had to be submitted 21 days before the trip. According to sources at the Ministry of Tourism, ad hoc committees representing the Interior Ministry and the Tourism Promotion Authority are to be formed within days, to co-ordinate efforts of simplifying the procedures and reducing the number of permits required for safari trips.
