Master Degree Proposal - Essay Example

All tourists visiting Egypt require passports and visas, except for Middle East countries. Tourists from Africa need to test for cholera and yellow fever .  In order to understand Egypt’s government’s role in tourism, it is important to look at the political system, the visa requirement, and the restriction on area tourist can visit. The principles of constitutionalism which is popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, fundamental rights has not been strictly followed in case of Egypt.

The rule in Egypt has not been “popular” sovereignty rule. The president was not elected democratically. Since the government was not socially elected therefore “limited” government does no have any meaning. The separation of powers was selectively done. As far as fundamental rights are concerned it was seldom followed. The Great Pyramid of Giza, build 4000 years ago, Great Sphinx, the largest statue of couchant sphinx are the main attractions for tourists in Giza. Mount Sinai in Sinai Peninsula attracts tourists for its coral reefs and biblical history.

Luxor, city of ancient site of Thebes houses the world’s greatest open air museum. Saqqara complex, an ancient burial ground has numerous pyramids and mastabas. Egypt is considered an unsafe country due to various wars in the area. Thus the Government is playing an active role to bring back the positive perceptions about the country. Tourism sector of Egypt has always been a stronghold of the Government with involvement of the private sector. After the revolution in 1952 the Egyptian tourism industry was nationalized and the largest private hotels were expropriated (Richter & Steiner 2007).

Small sectors were in the hands of the private sector. The largest hotels existing then were handed over to international hotel chains like Hilton and Shearaton. During 1967 the Ministry of Tourism was established to administer the tourism sector of the economy. In 1971, there was introduction of free zones, giving public ventures to collaborate with the foreign investors (Ibrahim 2009). President Anwar Sadat’s Open Door Policy thereafter led the Government to feel that tourism could lead to economic prosperity of the nation.

The structural change in the tourism sector can be attributed to the pro liberalization Minister of Tourism of 1980, Faud Sultan. He opened up the tourism sector to foreign funds, which infused fresh blood to the poorly performing hotels. The first wave did not create much impact; however a second wave of liberalization happened in the late 1980’s. New airline rules allowed charter flights to land directly in tourist areas. This led to a surge in demand from earlier times. During 1985 the Egyptian Government faced balance of payments crisis.

To improve the economy’s position the Government received exclusive planning responsibility for tourism development and was granted the power to coordinate the provision of infrastructure in all areas designated for tourism development by the Prime Ministerial decree No. 993 of 1988 (Richter & Steiner, 2007). The liberalization led to lot of investment by the private sector on tourism and by 1993, major proportion of investment was from the private sector (Gray 1998). Law No. 230 of 1989, reshaped the legal and institutional environment for the tourism sector.

This law guarantees that private companies can secure operating licenses. Capital investment in desert areas was given tax exemption for a