Cairo To Receive More Tourists in Next Decade - WTTC

Cairo is among the cities which will receive more tourists in the next decade alongside Moscow, Manila, and Bangkok, according to a report released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), broadcast by CNN  Tuesday on how over-tourism affects some popular tourist destinations worldwide.

The WTTC urged the governments of these cities to upgrade their infrastructure to cope with the surge in the number of travelers in the coming ten years.

Back to over-tourism, the Oxford English Dictionary, in 2018, defined the word as an excessive number of visitors heading to famous locations, damaging the environment and having a destructive impact on the resident's lives.

The council mentioned that half a billion of 1.4 billion international tourist trips in 2018 - more than 36% - focuses on visits to one of the world's 300 most popular cities. And the trend continues to rise.

Justin Francis, the CEO of UK-based tour operator Responsible Travel, said: "Tourism is like any other industry: it needs to be regulated and managed locally to prevent negative impacts."

And that has really happened. Some of these cities started in taking measures to protect their environments from the detrimental consequences of over-tourism and absorbing the increasing number of tourists.

Here's how some of the world's most well-known tourist destinations try to address the problem:

1- Amsterdam, Netherlands

[caption id="attachment_62196" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Amsterdam[/caption]

Due to tourist overcrowding, the Dutch capital took bold steps to "de-marketize" itself. It means stopping advertising and focusing on destination management instead of destination promotion.

2- Machu Picchu, Peru

[caption id="attachment_62198" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Machu Picchu[/caption]

As the number of visitors had rocketed in 2018 with a jump of 12% on the previous year, Machu Picchu has introduced a four-hour time limit for tourists. This limit would be applied through a strict ticketing system in January 2019.

In this regard, Sarah Miginiac, the general manager for Peru at G Adventures told CNN "The new ticketing system at Machu Picchu has not reduced the number of visitors each day, but has been very effective in managing the flow of visitor numbers entering the citadel."

3- Venice, Italy

[caption id="attachment_62199" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Venice[/caption]

Venice was at the forefront of most popular hotspots worldwide because of the high tourist numbers for years.

The Italian city began in introducing a new levy on day-trippers, starting at three euros. By 2020, this fee will vary from three to 10 euros, depending on the time of year and the number of visitors in the area.

4- Bali, Indonesia

[caption id="attachment_62201" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Bali[/caption]

Till now, up to 6,511,610 people arrived at Bali International Aiport from the beginning of 2019. These growing numbers raised the local concern on their impact on the environment.

The matter encouraged the provincial parliament to propose a $10 tourist tax to be paid by foreign visitors when leaving the country.

5- Taj Mahal, India

[caption id="attachment_62205" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Taj Mahal, India[/caption]

About seven million people visit the iconic Indian mausoleum yearly. In December 2018, officials announced an increase in ticket prices starting from 250 rupees ($3.50), up from 50 rupees for the local visitors.

While foreign guests must now pay 1,100 rupees (about $16), plus a further 20 rupees to access the main mausoleum.

6- Santorini, Greece

[caption id="attachment_62210" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Santorini Island[/caption]

The supermodel of the Greek islands witnessed a boom in visitor numbers as they grew up 66% between 2012 and 2017, from 3.3 million to 5.5 million.

Concerns were also raised due to the high level of pollution from cruise liners docking in the island.

Therefore, Mayor Nikos Zorzos imposed a limit on tourists disembarking cruise liners, with 8,000 allowed daily.

Also cities like Edinburgh, Barcelona, Rome, Queenstown, and Bruges strive to develop their infrastructure to absorb the rise in the visitor numbers and issue strict laws on foreigners to limit their negative impact.