Ministers of environment, tourism and antiquities launch 'Towards Green Development of Tourism Sector' project

CAIRO – 29 May 2022: Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad, and Minister of Tourism & Antiquities Khaled el-Enany, launched the “Towards Green Development of the Tourism Sector” project, in the presence of Regional Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Egypt Alessandro Fracassetti, and a number of representatives of ambassadors, stakeholders in the tourism industry and international media.

This project is the first of its kind in Egypt, and aims to improve the performance and sustainability of tourism in line with Egypt's 2030 strategy. It is also considered as part of Egypt's preparations to host the COP 27 climate conference, set to be held in November in Sharm El-Sheikh.

“Towards Green Development of the Tourism Sector” has been prepared by the project Integrating Biological Diversity with Tourism in Egypt, which is implemented through the Environmental Affairs Agency in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project also comes under the auspices of the presidential initiative for environmental awareness "Be Prepared for Green", in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and a number of concerned ministries and governorates.

Five main outputs of the project have been set to achieve green and environment-friendly development in the tourism sector. The outputs include preparing a guide to the best environment-friendly practices in the hotel sector to help enhance the application of easy to implement environmental measures, and ensure financial effeciency for those in charge of management.

The Egyptian Portal for Sustainable Tourism was developed for the first time as an online tool for hospitality professionals, tourism experts and the private sector, as well as the Egyptian Tourism Federation as key partners in integrating environmental protection with tourism activities.

A guide to the best sustainable, cost-effective, environmental practices in restaurants, and a guideline for eco-lodges were also launched, in preparation for launching a new licensing mechanism by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which is the first step of its kind to organize the eco-tourism market in Egypt and increase investments in nature reserves.

This is in addition to launching the Green List Campaign, which aims to increase the awareness of tourists about eco-hotels and tourist facilities bearing eco-labels, as well as about products that have adopted sound environmental and social standards, giving alternatives to products that have a negative impact on the environment.

The Green List will be published on ECO Egypt website, a 3-4 month promotional campaign will be organized, and the campaign's scheme will be open to all hotels and dive centers.

It is worth noting that the ECO Egypt campaign is the first national campaign to promote ecotourism, with the aim of shedding light on and developing natural reserves, and supporting ecotourism to ensure the preservation of natural resources.

This comes in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program and the project to integrate biodiversity in tourism to search for the best ways to promote ecotourism, and to help give an added value to the conservation of natural resources in tourism activities.