Sustainable tourism within an eco-city context: analytical study for the master plan of Siwa City, Egypt

摘要

Many urban areas now face an increasing population with growing middle class expectations and increasing numbers of interregional and domestic tourists. These urban areas face competition from a wide range of destinations for the tourist's dollar and the investment necessary to develop world-class facilities. The nature of the tourist is changing very quickly making planning and management evermore a challenge. Many of the tourists are in fact first time visitors while others are from a younger generation of travellers with quite different expectations than their parents. There is also the recognition of the need to meet the needs of multiple cultures with their diverse lifestyles, religious beliefs and traditions.Given the rapid rise of tourism there has been a clear pattern of increased air pollution caused by the intensive use of vehicles for tourism/recreation-related mobility, pollution of water and marine ecosystems due to recreational navigation and peaks in the generation of solid and liquid wastes. It has been documented that tourism facilities are responsible for substantial increases in the consumption of fossil fuels for heating and electricity due to the visitors' rising quality expectations for services and facilities. Poorly planned and managed tourism destinations disturb birds feeding habitats and wildlife, cause land erosion and damage to vegetation which leads to erosion in ecologically sensitive areas. In summary while tourism can significantly increase the quality of life for its residents it also brings about significant disruption.Determining the criteria for the sustainable tourism and measuring the degree of its sustainability in the urban societies are important issues in this area.