Practice of Sustainable Tourism Development in Egypt “The Case Of El Gouna city”

1. Critical review of sustainable policies and planning Practice of Sustainable Tourism Development in Egypt “The Case Of El Gouna city” Sherin Abdelrahman

2. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Tourism • Contents • Introduction • Tourism • Sustainable tourism • Egypt Context • El Gouna City (Red Sea Riviera), General description • Contents of the city • Environmental systems • Materials • Building Techniques • Conclusion

3. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Tourism Tourism is a dynamic movement linked to cultural and civilizational aspects of the human; the sense of a civilizing mission and a bridge of communication between cultures and human knowledge of nations and peoples, and the outcome of the evolution of natural communities, tourism and the high standard of living of the individual. Egypt is one of the world’s pre-eminent mass tourism destinations, with millions of visitors flocking to the country each year to enjoy the many natural and historical wonders within its borders. The Green Star Initiative was born to create an eco-label for hotels and resorts in destinations throughout Egypt and the Middle East. The Green Star Hotel initiative has chosen El Gouna as the pilot destination in which to launch the label.

4. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Sustainable Tourism Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support system. • There are three interrelated aspects: • Economic sustainability. • Social and cultural sustainability. • Environmental sustainability.

5. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Egypt Context • Egypt has a multitude on unique historical culture, social atmosphere, unique ecosystem and natural attraction not found elsewhere in the world, ranging from coral reefs, desert wild life and agriculture land along the River Nile. • Egypt as a part of the Red Sea coastal area attracts one out of every three tourists travelling in the world. • It has a climate characterised by hot dry summers and mild winters • Red Sea costal area are ecologically and culturally diverse, characterised by a wider range of natural environments and historical influences .So coastal Red Sea area is required sustainability development of techniques and policies

6. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera General Description • It was developed by Orascom company, • they have begun working on it since 1990. • It has 10,000 residents. • Built on 10 kilometres of beach. • El Gouna is a touristic resort located on the coast of the Red Sea in Egypt. • It is away from Hurghada International Airport by 22 kilometers to the north, and 470 kilometres from Cairo.

7. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Contents It consists of different neighbourhoods; everyone has its own identity 1. Marina Town It has a direct appearance on the sea and the yachts in front of Chalets 2. Golf District • With suitable places to play golf. • It is full of colourful buildings overlooking the magnificent artificial lake. 3. Mediterranean district • Villas and chalets overlooking the artificial lakes, surrounded by Mediterranean trees and grass

8. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Contents It consists of different neighbourhoods; everyone has its own identity 4. Plateau district • It sits high on a hill which you can see the entire panorama of El Gouna. • Most buildings are on the Tuscan-style 5. Italian neighbourhood • It has a bright colour buildings • Spread on its beach the umbrellas and chairs surrounded by the sea. 6. Nubian neighbourhood • It is the heart of the city • Close to the Arabic style • with domes, vaults, courts, etc.

9. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Contents • Hotels, schools and kinder Gardens • Branch of the world-famous library of Alexandria • Hospital and pharmacies • Supermarkets and Shopping Centers • Two ports • Airport for private planes • Sport Centers • Sport Centers • Diving Centers and Lagoons Many Restaurants and Cafeterias • Golf Playgrounds • Factories • Wind farms • Mosque and church

10. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Water Sports • Water-Sports • Diving • Sailing • Boat Charter • Snorkelling • Kite Surfing • Wake Boarding & Water Skiing • Wind Surfing • Fishing

11. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Environmental System • Recycling and Managing Solid Wastes • In each place in El Gouna you find colour tractor to collect and separate wastes by their type. • The process of the real separation of wastes and the factory is far from tourists areas. • There are all types of waste sorting and recycling like plastic, glass, cartoon, papers, cans and aluminium. • And even food waste is converted to feed the sheep and calves. The turkeys eat the remains of barley produced on the remnants of the beer factory.

12. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Environmental System • Recycling and managing solid wastes • They recycle organic waste (food scraps) by sorting, weighing, pureeing, aerating, composting and finally feeding it to worms at a vermiculture processing plant on the grounds. • This was established to reuse organic waste and by-product known as vermicast or worm castings as soil conditioner and fertilizer in landscaping and re-vegetation projects. A compacting plant is also used to reduce size of waste. • The city succeeded in recycling 98% from its wastes and it is trying to complete 100%.

13. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Environmental System • Dealing with air pollution • El Gouna is using only electrical small car, buggies and bikes on the internal roads • Mechanical cars are used on external roads only

14. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Environmental System Dealing with weather and environment The only trees are grown here and grasses that require small quantities of water like Mangroves trees and Palm trees because of lake of water in the desert.

15. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Environmental System • Water Saving and Waste Water Treatment • Wells are the main water source, treated by modern water treatment plants. • Using indigenous landscaping to minimize the use of irrigation water, harvesting rainwater for toilet flushing, treating sewage on site to tertiary standards, reusing treated sewage effluent for irrigation, and using water saving taps and shower head throughout the resort. • The 5 star hotels are all equipped with their own sewage treatment plants • And the rest of El Gouna is served by a state-of-the-art Treatment Plant. • Water produced is used for irrigation of the golf course. • El Gouna’s on-site waste water sewerage system involves four stages of treatment.

16. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Environmental System • Saving Energy and Generating Electricity • Some hotels were designed without air-conditioning. • It uses solar and liquid-natural-gas generation for all electricity and a reverse-osmosis waste water treatment with drip irrigation returns water to the aquifer underground. • Energy-efficiency is achieved through a gas-fired power station, which is the central energy source. This is then supplemented by a combination of solar and wind power • The power demand is 1/3 less than resorts of a similar size. • The buildings also save money by being passive solar-orientated to the northeast with natural ventilation, ceiling and wall insulation, and shading devices. • The city has also introduced an energy management control system that uses and switches off non-essentials like air conditioning and lighting for short periods. • The waste heat from power generation is used to heat hot water and swimming pools. • Visitors can monitor their water and energy usage via in-house television systems and are rewarded with prizes if usage level is low. • All employees are trained to reduce the waste of energy or water as possible.

17. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Materials • Green features of building materials in: • Pre-Building Phase • Reduction of the wastes. • Reduced the air, water, and soil pollution. • The recycled products to use it instead of natural resources. • Reducing the Energy needed to produce the raw materials. • Using natural materials have been used in buildings like wood, mud brick, etc. • Building Phase • Most buildings were designed with standard sizes • Using recycled and treated water in building phase. • Reducing the use of toxic materials which affect on air quality. • Using renewable energy systems instead of traditional building systems. • They used building materials with longer life instead of less ones. • Post-Building phase • Reusability of the materials at the new sites. • Recyclability of the materials to be used as a resource in the creation of new products like steel and glass.

18. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Materials • Priorities of Material Selection • Natural materials which are less energy-intensive and polluting to produce, and contribute less to indoor air pollution • Local Materials which have a reduced level of energy, cost and air pollution associated with their transportation, and can help sustain the local economy. • Durable materials that can save on energy costs for maintenance as well as for the production and installation of replacement products. Clay – Wood – Brick – natural stones – natural marble – etc.

19. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Building Techniques Using traditional Arabic styles in buildings to save energy in cooling and heating, natural ventelations and lighting specially in hot weather in El Gouna city. Protection From the sun Using sun protections, mashrabeiat, vaults and domes for protection from the sun

20. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Building Techniques Cooling Using badjeers, fountains and wind catches for cooling

21. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Building Techniques Natural Lighting • Courts and Qamareiat for natural lighting • And care with privacy and culture • Thermal and humidity insulations

22. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera General Photos General Photos

23. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Coclusion • The Guiding Principles which have been taking into account, the local climate and environment and cultural characteristics of Egypt; it concentrates on the following areas: • Meet the required amount of water without damaging the environment and underground water storage and at the same time reducing the use of it excessively. • Wastewater treatment and rainwater harvesting for reuse for irrigation of crops and other uses. • Saving energy and mostly depending on solar and wind energy. • 98% Solid wastes recycling. • Environmental Management for water , gardens, desert and buildings. • Material selection in pre-building, building and post-building phase. • Improvement of the environmental performance of the destination. • Significant reduction of energy and water consumption (10-30%) • Increased the use of renewable energy • Ensuring waste is properly handled and sewage is properly treated • Raising awareness for environmental protection among hotel guests, tour operators, hotel staff and residents • Capacity building in environmentally sound hotel management

24. El Gouna City Red Sea Riviera Coclusion El Gouna touristic city is considered the first sustainable touristic project in Egypt as a first step to sustainability in all fields in Egypt. Currently, El Gouna has voluntarily committed itself to sustainable development, maintaining the natural beauty of the location, by implementing a model that encompasses both ecological and economic aspects, it can become a truly “green destination” assuring a unique competitive advantage among global tourist destinations and creates a promising future for the tourism industry in Egypt. All criteria in the city are based upon internationally recognized criteria, including baseline criteria developed by the United Nations, Environmental Programme (UNEP) and a range of international organisations. In accordance with UNEP the Green Star Hotel Initiative tested the implementation of those criteria, acting as a pilot for the Middle East. At the end, my assessment of the touristic town of El Gouna is: El Gouna city is sustainable integrated city in most aspects of sustainability, in the planning, architectural design, electrical and mechanical installations, the use of renewable energy and recycling solids and liquid wastes.