comparative analysis of egyptian and turkish tourism industry

2011

Paritosh

Kashyap

Comparative Analysis of Egyptian and Turkish Tourism Industry


The given report is a comparative analysis between the two biggest tourist

destinations from the Mediterranean region, Egypt and Turkey across

qualitative as well as quantitative frameworks. Both Turkey and Egypt are

world famous tourist destinations and share similarities across religious,

cultural social and economical parameters.

Profiles as tourist destination

Egypt: Egypt also known as the cradle of civilization has got a strong and

vibrant tourism industry which employs 12% of the work force and receives

around 125 Million tourists every year (Dinar Standard, 2011). It has a wide

range of tourist avenues such as pyramids, phoenix and other magnificent

monuments; exotic desserts, wild life parks and sea beaches; shopping

complexes and other life style centers and state of the art golf courses. It

provides a wide range of interesting activities such as sightseeing, dessert

safaris, golf tourism, cultural tourism, sea activities, cruising, adventure

sports etc. (Egypt. travel, 2011)

Turkey: Like Egypt, Turkey also has a very rich history and cultural

heritage and is considered as the melting point of various civilizations such

as European, Arabic and Central Asian. It is also blessed with range of

tourist avenues such as; beautiful cities like Istanbul, Antalya, Ankara etc;

rugged landscapes, serene and calm sea beaches and coastlines, exotic

floras and faunas, heritage sites, museums, monuments and archeological

places etc. The range of activities at Turkey includes site seeing, adventure

sports, winter sports, golf, rafting, eco tourism, yachting, night life, cultural

tourism, shopping, Turkish bath, cuisines, conventions and wild life

adventures etc. (tourismturkey. org, 2011)

Demographic and Economic Indicators for 2010 (Euromonitor, 2011)

Paritosh Kashyap


:

Parameters Egypt Turkey

Population 80 Million 73.7 Million

Real GDP Growth 5.3% 7.8%

Inflation 11.2% 8.6%

GDP (PPP) US $ 498 Billion US $ 1015 Billion

Annual Gross Income US $ 191 Billion US $ 644 Billion

Annual Disposable Income US $ 185 Billion US $ 544 Billion

GNI per Capita US $ 2070 US $ 8730

GDP Growth rate of Egypt and Turkey

The following figure compares the GDP growth rate of both, Egypt and Turkey

7.1 7.2

4.65.3

3.5

4.8

0.9

-4.7

7.8

4.8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011(Est)

Year

GD

P G

row

th R

ate

Egypt

Turkey

Paritosh Kashyap


Social Indicators of Egypt and Turkey (Source: UNICEF)

Indicator Egypt Turkey

Adult Literacy Rate 66 % 89 %

Primary School Enrollment 94 % 95 %

Secondary School Enrollment 73 % 82 %

Phone Penetration 51 % 89 %

Internet Penetration 17 % 34 %

Population Growth Rate 2.1 % 1.5 %

Median Age 24.3 28.5

66%

94%

73%

51%

17%

89%95%

82%

89%

34%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Adult Literacy

Rate

Primary School

Enrollment

Secondary

School

Enrollment

Phone

Penetration

Internet

Penetration

Egypt

Turkey

Paritosh Kashyap


Tourism industry in Egypt and Turkey

Egypt

Since ancient time Egypt has been a very popular tourist destination,

attracting large number of tourists from Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The new era of tourism in Egypt began in 1989-90, when many of the

leading hotels were privatized, airline sector was liberalized and the

Egyptian govt. came up with some strong marketing campaigns. Since then

the industry has been moving with an accelerating pace, occasionally hit

hard by terrorism and political unrest. Last year out of the 125 Million

tourists it had received, Russia with 14 % had the highest share, followed by

United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Though presently due to the political

unrest the tourism industry has been affected, but in the long run it is

expected to have positive impact, owing to expected political stability and

transparency as well as more inflow of tourists from emerging economies

like China and India.

The following histogram shows the growth of tourism industry since 1989-

90, for Egypt

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The following figure shows growth of annual revenue from tourism, over the

last 20 years

The following pie chart shows the percentage of 10 major countries,

exporting tourist to Egypt, in the year 2007 (values given in 000s)

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Source of data: (Information development support center)

Egypt is primarily known for cultural tourism. Blessed with large number of

Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic monuments and archaeological sites,

it’s touted as a paradise for culture tourists coming from various parts of the

globe. The government of Egypt along with the support of International

Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international organizations has made huge

investments developing the tourism sector, a sector that constitutes 40

percent of Egypt’s non commodity export and employees more than 2

Million people directly or indirectly. Though position enjoyed by cultural

tourism is unparallel, various other forms of tourism such as, spa, sports,

dessert safari, sea, adventure, eco , and convention tourism (business

tourism) etc have been concomitantly developed.

Turkey

Thanks to its rich History, wide range of exotic landscapes, beautiful

beaches and strategic position, tourism industry in Turkey had made

noticeable growth in past few years, better than many of its European

counterparts. Turkey’s tourism sector took a leap during the early 80s. In

1980, Turkey had mere 60, 000 beds and the tourism industry constituted

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just 0.8% of the GDP. (Mahmut Zortuk, 2009). In 2009 with revenue of

around US $ 21 Billion it constituted 3.4% of the GDP and 20.8% of the

export. According World Tourism Organization, Turkey is ranked 7th among

the best tourists destinations in the world and holds 9th position in terms of

annual revenue from tourism. (Sunday’s Zaman, 2011) Istanbul; the capital

of two of the greatest civilizations in the world, Byzantine and Ottoman

civilizations; along with Antalya are the two important focal point of Turkish

tourism, comprising of 60% of the tourist intake. Istanbul was the 3rd most

visited city in Europe as on 2008, and was the cultural capital of Europe in

2010. (Invest in Turkey, 2009)

The following columns shows the growth in inbound tourism in Turkey over

the period of time

Source of the data: Middle East and North Africa report, Istanbul Bulletin, Sunday

Zaman, Country studies, Central daylight time

Paritosh Kashyap


The following figure shows growth of annual revenue from tourism, over the

period of years,

Source of data: Middle East and North Africa report, Istanbul Bulletin, Sunday Zaman,

Country studies, Central daylight time

In the near future tourism industry in Turkey is expected to grow further.

Around 40% of tourists come from, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany and

Iran. Major tourist attraction in turkey includes, archaeological sites,

monuments, museums, beautiful coastline with 314 beaches, rugged

landscapes etc and major forms of tourism includes cultural tourism, winter

tourism, beach tourism etc. Other alternative forms of tourism had been

developed such as medical tourism, religious tourism and sports tourism.

Turkey has 14 golf courses, 20 skies and 40 marinas (as of 2008) and is

emerging as sports tourism destination. Similarly it is evolving as a medical

tourism destination, with a large number of medical tourists coming from

Middle East region.

Comparison Egypt and Turkey on a “Nine Point” Analytical frame work

Paritosh Kashyap


The success of a tourist destination depends on a wide range of factors

ranging from places to visit, connectivity to political stability and

infrastructure etc. In the given part both the destinations will be judged on a

set of nine parameters, with every parameter having a specific weight age

score, depending on the importance of the particular parameter. In

accordance to the competencies shown under individual parameters, both

the countries will be rated from 1 to 5, with 1 being lowest to 5 being

highest. The individual scores will be multiplied with the weight age score

and their sum total over all the nine parameters will be the final score for

the individual states.

Parameters Weight age

Places to visit 9

Infrastructure 8

Safety 7

Cost 6

Strategic Location 5

Marketing 4

Climate 3

Social factors 2

Legal factors 1

Places to visit: the success of any tourist destinations depends

heavily on the things it has to offer. In this regard both Egypt and

Turkey has world class tourist places adored by visitors. While Egypt

has some most sought after archaeological sites and monuments,

along with beautiful beaches, exotic desserts, spas, golf courses,

convention centers Nile cruises etc; Turkey is also endowed with

archaeological sites, museums, monuments along with beaches,

springs, flora and fauna, sports and medical utilities, convention

centers, exciting night life etc. Hence both have been rated as 5.

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Infrastructure: Includes, hotels, resorts, roads, public

transportation, telecommunication, ICT (information and

communication technologies), convention centers etc and plays a

significant role in the tourism industry by ensuring comfortable and

hassle free stay for the tourists. Turkey has around one Million beds,

46 airports, and extensive road networks, it is ranked 55 in the T&T

business environment and infrastructure sub index, consisting of ,air

transport, ground transport, tourism, ICT, infra structure, tourism

infra structure. In the same index Egypt has a rank of 74. Based on

their rankings, a score of 3 and 2 had been given to Turkey and Egypt

respectively.

Safety: Is a major concern for the tourists as it has a huge

psychological impact on the mindset of visiting tourist. A perceived

feeling of lack of safety may result in avoidance of destinations. Both

Egypt and Turkey have their own safety concerns, with situations

more serious in Egypt due to the current political instability. There

has been many attacks on tourists in both Turkey as well as Egypt,

resulting in high causalities, there by hitting the tourism business

hard. Along with fundamentalism, Turkey also struggles hard with

Kurdish uprising in the South, which had occasionally targeted

tourists. Based on these safety concerns a low score of 2 had been

decided for Turkey. It has been further revised to 1 in case of Egypt,

in view of the political, which resulted in one Million tourists leaving

the place.

Cost: Both Egypt and Turkey are comparatively cost effective in

comparison to many of its counterparts in Europe. Egypt is one of the

low cost tourist destinations where the cost of travelling is 20 % of the

United Kingdom. Cairo its largest city has a rank of 224, in terms of

cost of living among 276 places in the world. According to an

estimation by budgetyourtrip.com; average daily travel in Egypt,

Paritosh Kashyap


which includes accommodation, food, water, local transportation etc

could cost around US $ 33.5; souvenirs could cost around US $ 100

and daily travel and cruise trips can cost around US $ 30. In case of

Turkey values for the same will be US $, 47, 8 and 55 respectively.

Cost of daily travelling can cost US $, 200, 164, 77 and 51 in United

Kingdom, USA, Mexico and Thailand respectively. Hence for cost, on

a scale of 5 a score of 5 has been given to Egypt where as 4 has been

given to Turkey.

Strategic Location: Turkey is strategically placed between the cross

roads of Europe, Middle East and Central Asia. Similarly Egypt,

situated in North Africa is at a distance of mere four hours from

Europe and is at the door steps of Middle East. For both of them, their

strategic locations have played pivotal role in their tourism industry.

In the given parameter a score of 5 had been awarded to both.

Marketing: Due to the fact that tourism plays a very pivotal role in

their individual economies, both Egypt and Turkey intend to take

strong initiatives in marketing their destinations. Ministry of tourism

and culture in Turkey has an ambitious plan of achieving 50 Million

tourists and US $ 40 Billion as revenue by 2023, as a result of which it

has offices all across the world undertaking strong marketing

initiatives.

In spite of this, marketing expenditures are believed to be low in

comparison to some of the heavily marketed destinations like Spain,

UAE etc. The same holds true for Egypt, though it has its own tourism

ministry with a fix budget allocated for marketing, a lot more could be

done. In case of both Turkey as well as Egypt handful of nations like

Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and some Arab countries

constitute the majority of their tourists which indicates lack of

diversity in their marketing campaigns. Hence a score of 3 had been

given to both the countries.

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Climate: Climate is another factor which decides the success of a

tourist destination. Egypt has comparatively moderate temperature

with warm days and cold nights; during summer temperature

fluctuates between 43 degree C during day and 7 degree C in night,

whereas during winter temperature varies between 30 degree C to 18

degree C. The warm weather in Egypt is considered to be very

refreshing for tourists. In comparison to Egypt, Turkey has a varied

climate with coastal areas having typical Mediterranean climate with

hot summers and mild, wet winters and East of the country having

snowy winters and warm summers, often used for winter tourism.

Istanbul has a cooler version of Mediterranean climate where as

Antalya; home to some of the best beaches and resorts has a much

warm coastal temperature. On account of their favorable weather

conditions a rating of 4 had been given to them.

Social Factors: People from both Egypt and Turkey are known for

their warm and loving attitude towards the tourists. In Egypt a large

number of people speak and understand languages like English,

French, and German etc. Similarly in Turkey English is taught as

second language in most of the govt. sponsored schools. Other than

English lot of people do speak and understand German, Russian,

Arabic etc. In terms of other social factors affecting tourism industry,

directly or indirectly such as literacy rate, higher education,

telephone penetration, internet penetration etc Turkey appears to

have edge over Egypt (refer table above), hence a score of 4 has been

awarded to Turkey and 3 to Egypt.

Legal factors: Factors such as the visa procedures and the legal

system of a country are also important for the tourism industry of a

nation. Both Turkey and Egypt with visa obtaining procedure and

legal frame works in line with the Western world do not offer much

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trouble to the tourists. Hence a score of 4 had been given to both of

them.

Parameter Weight age Score of Egypt Score of Turkey

Places to visit 9 9.5=45 9.5=45

Infra structure 8 8.2=16 8.3=24

Safety 7 7.1=7 7.2=14

cost 6 6.5=30 6.4=24

Strategic location 5 5.5=25 5.5=25

Marketing 4 4.3=12 4.3=12

Climate 3 3.4=12 3.4=12

Social Factors 2 2.3=6 2.4=8

Legal Factors 1 1.4=4 1.4=4

Subtotal= 157 Subtotal = 167

The following bar graph compares Egypt and Turkey on the nine point frame

work

Paritosh Kashyap


Conclusion

Egypt and Turkey have emerged as great tourist destinations in the past

few decades and both have their own unique selling proposition- one is an

ancient land with some of the most magnificent monuments and

archaeological sites while other is a moderate and prosperous European

society blessed with a rich cultural and historical heritage.

Both the nations have their own share of similarities as well as differences.

Both Egypt and Turkey are Moderate Islamic societies having rich heritage

and are making headways in the tourism industry by investing in various

new and alternate forms of tourism. Both are also moderate cost

destinations providing value based proposition to the tourists.

On the other hand while Egypt had just started liberalizing its market by

investing in social infra structure and is attempting a transition into a liberal

and transparent democratic system; Turkey had already made huge strides

Paritosh Kashyap


in investing in social and physical infra structure and is a moderate,

transparent and secular democracy and has implemented economic reforms

much before. Apparently this is the reason Turkey has a bigger tourism

industry and has scored better than Egypt.

Reference:

1> Dinar Standard, 2011, Egypt revolution: facts and updates, available

at < http://dinarstandard.com/challenges/egypt-crisis-business-facts-

updates/>

2> Egypt. travel, 2011, home page, available at <

http://www.egypt.travel/?flashinstalled=2>

3> Tourismturkey.org, 2011, home page, available at

http://www.tourismturkey.org/

4> Euromonitor, 2011, Reference books, available at

http://www.euromonitor.com/turkey/country-factfile

5> Mahmut Zortuk, 2009, Economic impact of tourism on Turkey’s

economy: evidence from cointegration tests, p- 231-232

6> Sunday’s Zaman, 2011, tourism industry making headway in Turkey

7> Invest in Turkey, sectors, tourism

Paritosh Kashyap

http://www.euromonitor.com/turkey/country-factfile

http://www.tourismturkey.org/

http://www.egypt.travel/?flashinstalled=2

http://dinarstandard.com/challenges/egypt-crisis-business-facts-updates/

http://dinarstandard.com/challenges/egypt-crisis-business-facts-updates/

comparative analysis of egyptian and turkish tourism industry

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