American University in Cairo AUC Knowledge Fountain Theses and Dissertations 6-1-2013 Religious tourism in Egypt: a case study analysis Mohamed Mostafa Ali Follow this and additional works at: https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds Recommended Citation APA Citation Ali, M. (2013).Religious tourism in Egypt: a case study analysis [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1305 MLA Citation Ali, Mohamed Mostafa. Religious tourism in Egypt: a case study analysis. 2013. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1305 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by AUC Knowledge Fountain. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AUC Knowledge Fountain. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The American University in Cairo School of Global Affairs and Public Policy RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN EGYPT: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS A Thesis Submitted to the Public Policy and Administration Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Policy and Administration By MOHAMED MOSTAFA AMIN ALI May 2013 The American University in Cairo School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Department of Public Policy and Administration RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN EGYPT: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS MOHAMED MOSTAFA AMIN ALI Supervised by Professor HAMID ALI ABSTRACT Egyptian tourism has seen cases of rise and fall. The difference in the numbers of tourists from both inside and outside Egypt leads to the difference in the revenues generated by tourism and consequently affects the rate of growth in Egypt. This study aims at shedding light on the elements of religious tourism and identifying the possibility for Egypt to occupy a leading position among the religion tourism. This study compares Egyptian tourism revenues with the revenues achieved by some top-ranking countries. The steps Egypt has to follow, in order to achieve the desired progress and a reasonable ranking, are also discussed. In addition, some interviews and visits to some tourist companies were conducted in order to identify the religious tourism programs they offer and clarify their role in the development of the tourism industry in Egypt. This study aims also at finding out the role of the Egyptian government, the Ministry of Interiors and ordinary citizens in the development and progress of religious tourism in Egypt. It also clarifies the difference in the views of religious political parties in Egypt on religious tourism. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction………….………………………………………………… 8 2 Main Questions………………………………………………………… 9 3 Literature Review……………………………………………………… 10 3-1 Religious tourism in the world…………………………………… 10 3-2 The economic dimension of religious tourism…………………… 12 3-3 Role of government in promoting religious tourism……………… 14 3-3-1 Vatican………………………………………………… 14 3-3-2 France…………………………………………………… 14 3-3-3 Egypt……………………………………………………… 14 3-3-4 Jordan……………………………………………………… 20 3-3-5 Iraq……………………………………………………… 20 3-3-6 USA………………………………………………… 23 3-4 Religious conferences and conventions…………………… 24 3-5 The importance of tourism for the national economy……………… 25 3-5-1 Egypt………………………………………………………… 27 3-5-2 India………………………………………………………… 34 3-5-3 Spain……………………………………………………… 38 3 4 Methodology………………………………………………………… 40 4-1 Case study – Turkey…………………………………………….. 44 4-1-1 Introduction……………………………………………… 44 4-1-2 Role of the Turkish government………………………… 56 4-2 Findings………………………………………………………… 60 4-3 Egyptian tourism obstacles……………………………………… 61 4-4 The position of religious parties in Egypt………………………. 63 4-5 Comparison of tourism in Egypt and some other countries……… 64 5 Conclusions…………………………………………………………… 69 6 Recommendations……………………………………………………. 71 7 References…..………………………………………………………… 73 8 Photos……………………………………………………………….. 77 4 Tables Serial Table Page 1 Religious Tourists……………………………………………………… 25 2 World’s top tourism destinations……………………………………… 28 3 Tourism Contribution to the Egyptian economy……………………… 29 4 Tourist arrivals and nights – Egypt………………………………… … 31 5 Tourists in the Years 2012 &2011……..…………………………… 32 6 Principal sources of foreign exchange – Egypt……………………….. 33 7 Foreign exchange earnings – India……………………………………. 37 8 Tourist arrivals – Spain………………………………………………… 39 9 Top ten countries – Tourism receipts………………………………….. 47 10 Total number of beds – Turkey……………………………………………. 57 11 The monthly distribution of arrivals – Turkey………………………… 59 12 Tourism income - Comparison ………………………………………… 66 13 Growth rate - Comparison ……………………………………………… 67 14 Employment to population ratio - Comparison ………………………… 68 15 Investment ratio - Comparison ………………………………………… 68 5 Figures Serial Figure Page 1 Tourism matters ………………………………………………………. 26 2 Foreign exchange – Egypt……………………………………............... 30 3 Foreign tourists arrivals – India……………………………. …..………36 4 Top ten countries – Arrivals…………………………………............... 46 5 Hotel occupancy rates………………………………………………… 58 6 Tourist arrivals – Comparison………………………………………… 65 6 Photos Serial Photo Page 1 Mohamed Ali Mosque – Egypt……………………………………… 77 2 El- Hakim Mosque – Egypt…………………………………………. 78 3 Hanging Church- Egypt………………………………………………. 79 4 Eliyahu Synagogue – Egypt…………………………………………… 79 5 El-Rawda El-Haydarya – Iraq…………………………………………. 80 6 El-Khalefa Mosque – Iraq……………………………………………… 80 7 Hagia Sophia – Turkey…………………………………………………. 81 8 Sts Sergius and Bacchus – Turkey……………………………………… 81 9 Hagia Eirene – Turkey………………………………………………….. 82 10 Yeni Mosque – Turkey………………………………………………….. 82 11 Tag Mehal – India……………………………………………………….. 83 12 Buddha – India……………………………………………………… 83 13 Leon Cathedral – Spain……………………………………………… 84 14 Santa Eulalia – Spain…………………………………………………. 84 15 Santa Maria – Spain………………………………………………….. 85 16 El- Housin Mosque – Egypt…………………………………………. 86 7 1- Introduction Tourism is one of the main activities practiced by humans, across the gender or age. Tourism has many positive effects on the psychological state of man as they remove the pressures resulting from routine work or the economic and political environmental surrounding. One of aphorisms common among Egyptians for ages is that travel has seven benefits. Ancient Egyptians knew tourism and expressed it in their drawings on the temple walls and archaeological pillars. There are many definitions of Tourism. The World Tourism Special Organization defines tourism as “a set of activities practiced by people who are traveling to different places outside their homes in regular trips of no more than one year; these activities include business, recreational, religious and cultural behavior. Tourism can be divided into many sectors according to the purpose. For instance, there are relaxing tourism, health care tourism, transit tourism, visiting tourism and professional tourism (Cosmescu,2005). Also according to the destination, tourism is classified into domestic tourism and international tourism. In the global market of tourism, there are organized tourism, semi- organized tourism and unorganized tourism. Tourism is divided according to the number of tourists into two types: individual tourism and group tourism; in some cases, the group may be one extended family. 8 Tourism is further classified by duration into three kinds: tourism for a short period like a trip for one day, tourism for a long duration like a tour for one month, and tourism for a very long time like a tour for one year (Minciu, 2004). To move to various places, tourists use many means of transportations like planes, cars, trains, and ships. Finally, all previous types of tourism are different in purpose. They result in having a happy, useful and spiritual time. There are tours for health and for profit. In this research I will focus on religious tourism as an important and growing type of tourism all over the world. Then, we will investigate the status of religious tourism in Egypt and try to find out how to improve it within the Egyptian context. 2- Main Questions Research that focused on religious tourism in Egypt is characterized by scarcity. In this piece of research, a number of questions will be answered. 1- What are the opportunities for the Government of Egypt to boost religious tourism? 2- What lessons can be learned by Egypt from the experience of India and Spain in the field of religious tourism? 3- What are the implications of the policies of the current ruling Islamists (“Freedom and Justice Party” and ”El-Noor Party”) relevant to religious tourism? 9 3- Literature Review 3-1 Religious tourism in the world Religion has a great importance in the lives of people and has a big impact on the daily life of most of the people. There are numerous religions in the world, but as population there are four major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. These religions are based on a set of beliefs and concepts. Most of these religions still have important ties to their early history and place of origin. Every religion leaves behind a group of relics and heritage (Rinschede, 1992). In many of these religions there is a special place of worship; for example in the Christianity the church is a place of worship and in Islam the mosque is a place of worship. The more people esteemed and are attached to their religion, the more they build houses of worship in artistic fashions that increase their attachment to these places. Believers of these religions add touches of beauty and art to their places of worship with the passage of