Domestic tourism | Do you save the Arab economy in crises?
Awareness campaigns and competitive prices for citizens to support tourism activity
The tourism and antiquities sector in the Arab countries was unable to recover from the Corona epidemic crisis, which killed it due to the closure, precautionary measures and the sharp drop in the rates of incoming tourism from abroad until the Russian-Ukrainian war came to aggravate his wounds and pain.
For their part, Arab governments immediately relied on the domestic tourism sector and supported it by providing awareness programs and competitive prices to compensate for losses and ensure the continuation of tourism activity, which contributes significantly to supporting the national economy of Arab countries.
Al-Ittihad newspaper and its website have monitored this important issue to support the trend of these countries in saving the tourism industry in support of their people in these difficult circumstances.
Prepared report - Investigations Department
In Egypt: Government programs to stimulate domestic tourism
In Port Said Governorate, Samah Al-Laithi, Director of the Office of the General Authority for Tourism Activation in the governorate, confirmed the organization of a number of tourist and awareness trips for the people of the governorate to the Ashtum Al-Jamil Nature Reserve, after its development, which introduces the history of the reserve and the development work that took place in it, and a presentation of some of its images and contents.
In Sharkia Governorate, Dr. Rasha Hassan, Director of the Office of the Regional Authority for Tourism Promotion in the Eastern Province, indicated that the Authority, in partnership with the General Administration of Pharaonic, Greek and Roman Antiquities, Tel Basta Museum, and the Directorate of Education, is implementing the archaeological and tourist awareness program in the governorate.
The program is organized under the title "Egypt Civilization and the Future" and includes organizing awareness seminars to develop archaeological and tourist awareness for school students, as well as carrying out craft workshops to introduce the most important handicrafts for which the governorate is famous, and training courses to familiarize themselves with the ancient Egyptian language.
Eman Abdel Rahman, Director General of the Authority's Internal Offices, added that the Authority's Information Office in Ramses, the delegation of the "Ouladi Association for Orphans in Maadi", won third place in the world in the World Cup for Orphans, which was held in Poland last year, and first place in the orphanage league at the local level among associations and orphanages in Egypt.
And that was while they were at the Egypt station to leave on the youth train heading to Luxor, where an introductory overview of tourism in Egypt was presented, and it was agreed to organize a tourism seminar at the association’s headquarters in Maadi, upon their return to Cairo.
In Jordan: a 50% discount on the "Our Jordan is a Paradise" program
The "Our Jordan is a Paradise" program, organized by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, succeeded in stimulating and supporting domestic tourism this year within the Kingdom because it was able to provide a large and diverse number of tourist attractions at prices suitable for the Jordanian citizen.
This is because these trips are subsidized by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Tourism Authority in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by 50%, and this is what prompted the Jordanian ports to turn out for them despite the challenges in the region and the world, the most important of which is the spread of the Coronavirus and the strong precautionary measures it requires that may reach the limit of closure. The greatest evidence of this is the achievement of this ambitious tourism program, where the number of participants exceeded 63,000, although only 3 months have passed since its launch, as 2,256 tourist buses were operated to transport visitors to these places from various governorates of the Kingdom, accompanied by 2,256 tourist guides.
According to a press report issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and those responsible for the program, a national and regional campaign called "The Southern Passion" was organized, which included concerts and folklore for visitors under the auspices of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, to stimulate tourism in the Golden Triangle.
The administration of the Jannah program is currently studying the inclusion of new tourist interfaces so that there are interfaces suitable for winter and others for summer.
It is noteworthy that this program aims to reduce the large losses that afflicted the tourism and antiquities sectors in the Kingdom after the spread of the Coronavirus.
Among the largest areas that have suffered from the cessation of foreign tourism to the Kingdom of Jordan are the cities of Aqaba, Petra, and Wadi Rum, along with the rest of the areas affected by the Corona pandemic, which the program targets by organizing one-day trips to visit the archaeological and tourist areas.
Those wishing to join these trips can know the target interfaces, prices, and services, as well as make a reservation through the program's application on smartphones "jannah.jo".
In Tunisia: a crisis cell to support the tourism sector
In Tunisia, the tourism sector did not find enough time to recover from the effects of the Corona pandemic, which greatly harmed this sector, until the Russian-Ukrainian war surprised it to increase the scale of the disaster suffered by hotel establishments, which prompted the government to form a crisis cell to follow up the matter and work to support domestic tourism.
This is to alleviate this crisis that has damaged the national economy, which is what the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism is currently doing to restore part of the tourism activity and compensate for the absence of foreign tourists.
Mohamed Al-Moez, Tunisian Minister of Tourism, revealed in a statement during the activities of the National Tourism Forum in Tunisia that his country received 600,000 Russian tourists and 30,000 Ukrainian tourists last year, while Tunisia has not received any reservations from these two countries so far.
This confirms the significant negative impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on Tunisian tourism, especially since it considered this country a promising market for Tunisia had it not been for this war, which prompted the government to form a crisis cell to follow up on the situation and restructure the domestic tourism sector.
He pointed out the need to support this sector so that it can be relied upon in the continuation of tourism activity until the improvement of international and regional conditions, especially since domestic tourism achieved record numbers last year, amounting to 57% of the number of nights elapsed.
In Morocco: Purchasing power is a necessity to support domestic tourism
The Directorate of Financial Studies and Forecasts of the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance revealed that the Corona epidemic crisis has affected the tourism sector in the country in an unprecedented and large way and that in light of the conditions and crises the world is witnessing, it is necessary to rely on domestic tourism to revive this important sector and absorb its shock.
The directorate indicated the need to enhance the share of domestic tourism in overnight stays to 50%, compared to 31% in 2019, in order to compensate for the severe shortage in incoming tourism, which recorded 59% in 2020 compared to 80% in 2019.
This confirms the importance of the role of domestic tourism in times of crisis, which the Kingdom has been deprived of from tightening precautionary measures due to the Corona epidemic.
Domestic tourism in the Kingdom of Morocco is concentrated in three destinations, representing 66 percent of overnight stays and 59 percent of domestic tourists, led by Marrakesh, Safi, Souss, and Massa, then Tangiers and Al Hoceima.
An official study issued by the Directorate of Financial Studies and Forecasts affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance indicated that the tourism sector represents more than 7% of Moroccan GDP and is therefore important to the national economy, as it contributes 42% of service exports and receives 9.6% of foreign direct investment.
The study indicated that increasing the activity of domestic tourism in order to be able to support the bottom of tourism and compensate for the denial of foreign tourists requires an increase in the purchasing power of the Moroccan citizen with the presentation of large tourist offers that are more competitive in terms of quality and price.
It is known that the expenditures of the local tourist in a country always rank with its share of the gross domestic product, as it recorded its highest level in the Netherlands, with a value of 3,547 US dollars in 2018, while it does not exceed 138 dollars in Morocco.