The Rebranding of the Tourism Industry in Egypt - Case Study Example

Tourism in Egypt University Student Id Course Date Introduction Tourism has been a major source of income to the economy of Egypt. More than 12% of the workforce of Egypt is employed in the tourism sector with more than 14.7 million tourists. The economy of Egypt received around $13 billion contributing to approximately 14% of the foreign currency revenues and 11% of the country’s GDP. The government has been working towards rebranding its tourism industry as it was some critical challenges that led to the decline in its performance. Egypt employed the rebranding strategy after the tourism industry experienced a decline in the year 2010. The factors that led to the decline of the tourism industry can be associated with the political instability issues that included civil wars, riots, and protests making Egypt an insecure destination. Within one year the tourists in Egypt declined to around 9 million from 13 million tourists (Eraqi, 2008). This was a huge decline forcing the government to come up with the rebranding strategy aimed at reviving the tourism sector. Currently, Egypt has been experiencing an increase in the number of tourists visiting the country. This paper explores the rebranding of the tourism industry in Egypt where its brand positioning, image, and identity are discussed. Brand identity The government of Egypt has been working towards branding the country as the most peaceful destination. This has been possible through adopting various strategies aimed at making Egypt the most secure country for the tourists through investing heavily in security. There were increased insecurity issues before that led to decline in the number of visitors coming to Egypt due to civil wars and riots that were common in the country. The improvement in security has made Egypt one of the most visited country in the world due to the many tourist attractions in the country that include historical sites dating back to the times of Jesus and other ancient attractions like pharaohs pyramids (Bryce, 2007). The mission of Egypt in the industry sector is to make Egypt the most visited nation through providing the necessary tourism environment. It is through this mission that the government has been committed to ensuring that the visitors in Egypt are secure. The vision of the Egypt government in the industry is to experience growth in tourism through improving the tourist destinations in the country. The government has been working towards achieving this vision through coming with competitive strategies that are geared towards improving the brand identity. For instance, there has been an increase in the destination marketing leading to increasing in popularity of the tourist attractions in Egypt. It is the vision and mission of tourism industry in Egypt that has led to the increase in the number of the tourists visiting the country. Besides, the marketing of the tourist destinations in Egypt, the word of mouth has been crucial in making the brand popularity globally (Vignal, 2010). This is because the tourist experience in Egypt has improved making the tourists share their experiences hence marketing Egypt locally and internationally. The values of the tourism in Egypt include ensuring, secure, high quality and satisfying tourist destinations. The government has invested a lot in the tourism industry with the aim of rebranding the sector to attract more visitors. The rebranding strategies adopted by Egypt are all based on the values of the tourism industry. For instance, the government has adopted marketing strategies that communicate Egypt as the most peaceful tourism destination. Besides, it has ensured that its culture is properly preserved to make sure that the visitors can enjoy seeing the historical artifacts like the Egypt pyramids. The tourist destinations in Egypt are being rebranded to make the visitors have a new perception through considering the trends that have been taking place in the tourism industry globally (Eraqi, 2008). As a result, Egypt has managed to improve is tourism image globally through upholding its values and keeping pace with the tourism trend that is taking place. Egypt has been working towards developed the desired brand image that communicates Egypt as a welcoming and democratic country. The desired brand image is geared towards assuring the tourists that they can be secure while visiting Egypt. The government has so far achieved the desired brand image as now Egypt is being viewed as among the most secure tourist destination (Vignal, 2010). As a result, the number of visitors in Egypt has increased and signs are enough that the tourism industry will continue growing in the future. Brand positioning Egypt as positioned its tourism brand competitively globally through its innovative and creative strategies. The rebranding strategy adopted has been geared towards enhancing the tourist destinations to make the country a tourist destination of choice among many tourists. Through value proposition, Egypt has managed to improve the tourism industry through delivering value to the visitors. The government has adopted strategies aimed at making the tourists in Egypt feel the value of their money. Providing value at the tourist destinations has helped in exciting the visitors through meeting their expectations (Ibrahim, 2013). Besides, the government has worked towards developing the infrastructure to enhance the experience of the tourists visiting the country. The development of the infrastructure has led to increased number of tourists coming to Egypt resulting in the increase in the revenues. The value proposition tries to differentiate Egypt from the other tourist destinations in the world. This has been possible through being innovative in the process of making the tourist destinations in Egypt attractive. The government has invested in research to come with the necessary information concerning the preferences of the tourists with the aim of making Egypt an attractive destination. It is through the research that the tourist destinations in Egypt have been improved through meeting the expectations of the tourists. For instance, the government has put the right measures that are aimed at ensuring security at the tourist destinations. Besides, the government has promoted the beach culture with the aim of making Egypt unique in the tourism industry globally (Vignal, 2010). The promotional campaigns adopted in Egypt to promote tourism have been focused on safety as it has been an issue of great concern in the industry. The name of the brand positioning in the tourism industry is “Egypt nothing compares”. It implies that Egypt in the tourism industry globally cannot be compared with any other country as it is unique in the industry. The name can be justified by the Egypt rich culture, historical sites and the commitment of the government to make Egypt a destination of choice for all tourists. The brand positioning name has ensured that Egypt can be made different from the other countries through developing the destinations to make Egypt unique (Bryce, 2007). The fact that Egypt cannot be compared with other tourist destinations in the world is an indication that its tourism sector has no close substitute. The ease of substitution can only be possible through having almost similar tourist attractions at the destinations that can be an alternative for the tourists. The symbol used in the brand positioning is a Tahrir square that implies change and hope. The change has been witnessed as Egypt has become secure and is continuously becoming more secure because of the increased commitment of the government to ensure the safety of the tourists. The hope can be seen in the rebranding strategies that are being employed by Egypt in attracting tourists. For instance, the government has improved the destination sites with the aim of making the tourists feel the uniqueness of the country (Fielding and Shortland, 2011). Besides, the interests of the tourists are being collected to help in making the necessary improvements. The slogan of the brand positioning is "A new era of hospitality". This slogan is primarily aimed at communicating the commitment of the government to ensure Egypt is the best tourist destination. It is an indication of the many changes that have been taking place in Egypt with the aim of keeping pace with the changes taking place in the industry. For instance, the major focus has been given to the safety issues leading to increasing in the number of visitors. Brand image The brand image of the tourism sector has improved making the potential customers perceive Egypt as the best tourist destination. The developed brand image concerning Egypt has played an important role in improving the number of visitors. The actual brand image of Egypt in the tourism industry globally has changed to associate Egypt with safe and warm tourist destinations (Ibrahim, 2013). The long term travel campaigns in Paris has contributed a lot to the improvement of the brand image. Induced image: tourism campaigns and promotions have played an important role in the process of improving the brand image of tourism in Egypt. The promotions have branded Egypt as a democratic country that is politically stable hence enhancing the brand image through communicating the security level in Egypt. Organic image: Egypt has embraced media to rebrand its tourism sector where the positive changes in the tourism sector are communicated. The image that the tourists develop is what determines their purchasing decisions (Eraqi, 2006). It is through making use of social media in rebranding that Egypt has managed to make its tourist destinations popular globally. Cognition: Egypt is well known for historical sites and rich culture globally. It has some important and attractive tourist destinations like pharaohs, pyramids, and camels. Besides, the biblical history concerning Egypt forms the important reason for visiting the country. Affect: the tourists have been attracted by the tourist destinations of Egypt. They are attracted to the tourist destinations due to the efforts of the government to ensure improved security (Hamza, 2012). Also, the infrastructure and the destinations are improved to attract more tourists to the destinations. Conation: the government has taken the necessary actions geared towards making Egypt the best tourist destination. As a result, the number of tourists visiting Egypt has been increasing as it has become very popular in the tourism industry (Eraqi, 2008). Lesson for other countries from the rebranding strategy of Egypt The other countries can learn from the rebranding strategy adopted by Egypt in promoting tourism. First, the other countries can learn the need for investing in security in the process of attracting more tourists in the country. Egypt is now considered as a safe tourist destination as it has guaranteed the visitors enough security. Some years ago Egypt was facing numerous political instabilities that led to increasing in riots, civil wars, and protests but the government has addressed all that challenges (Fielding and Shortland, 2011). Currently, Egypt is the most preferred tourist destination and the trend is likely to improve in the future as the government has promised continued support for enhancing security in the tourist destinations. Security globally has been among the major factors that are being considered by tourists when visiting different destinations. Therefore, the other countries can learn from Egypt concerning the benefits of improving security to enhance the tourism industry. The other countries can also learn the need to develop infrastructure in the country to attract more tourists in their tourist destinations. Egypt has developed its infrastructure that has greatly contributed to the increased number of tourists visiting Egypt. For instance, the government has improved the transport and communication making Egypt a welcoming and warm tourist destination (Eraqi, 2006). Other hospitality facilities that can help in improving tourism in Egypt have been developed as the government has provided a conducive business environment for private investors in the tourism industry. Conclusion Egypt has managed to successfully re-brand its tourism sector through addressing the security issues. The rebranding strategies adopted by Egypt in the process of enhancing the tourism sector are competitive as they have differentiated Egypt by developing unique tourist destinations. The major focus of rebranding Egypt has been on the safety issues and quality of the tourist destinations. As a result, Egypt has experienced an increase in the number of visitors by around 70% as the brand image has improved globally. However, Egypt has greatly invested in marketing where many promotional campaigns are used in the process of making Egypt competitive globally. References Bryce, D. (2007). Repackaging orientalism: Discourses on Egypt and Turkey in British outbound tourism. Tourist Studies, 7(2), 165-191. Eraqi, M. I. (2006). Tourism services quality (TourServQual) in Egypt: The viewpoints of external and internal customers. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 13(4), 469-492. Eraqi, M. I. (2008). Integrated quality management and sustainability for enhancing the competitiveness of tourism in Egypt. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 5(1), 14-28. Fielding, D., & Shortland, A. (2011). How do tourists react to political violence? An empirical analysis of tourism in Egypt. Defence and Peace Economics, 22(2), 217-243. Hamza, I. M. (2012). Islamic tourism: Exploring perceptions & possibilities in Egypt. African Journal of Business and Economic Research, 7(1), 85-98. Ibrahim, M. A. (2013). The determinants of international tourism demand for Egypt: panel data evidence. Browser Download This Paper. Vignal, L. (2010). The new territories of tourism in Egypt: a local-global frontier?. Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography. Read More