Int. J. Services and Operations Management, Vol. 3, No.

3, 2007 297

Egypt as a macro-tourist destination: tourism

services quality and positioning

Mohammed I. Eraqi
Tourism Studies Department
Faculty of Tourism and Hotels
Fayoum University, Egypt
E-mail: m_eraqi@hotmail.com

Abstract: This paper attempts to evaluate the overall views of inbound tourists
about Egypt as a tourist destination. Statistical methods such as Mean, t. test,
Chi2, factor analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s Test and Correlation Matrix were
used to interpret and test the research results. The main conclusions of the
research can be summarised as follows: based on the Likert scale, most of the
tourism quality measures/variables were rated Very Good and Good. The most
important variable was the friendliness of people, which was rated Excellent.
The main weak point is the tourism transport services quality such as airport
services quality and the bad behaviour of drivers. To improve the marketing of
Egypt as a macro-tourist destination, it is necessary for the tourism policies to
concentrate on improving the quality of the tourism infrastructure and the
environment institutions.

Keywords: marketing; tourism; destination; factor analysis; positioning.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Eraqi, M.I. (2007) ‘Egypt
as a macro-tourist destination: tourism services quality and positioning’, Int. J.
Services and Operations Management, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp.297–315.

Biographical notes: Mohammed I. Eraqi is Associate Professor and Head of

the Department of Tourism Studies at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel
Management, Fayoum University, Egypt. He received his PhD in Economics
from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University,
Egypt. He has been involved in consultancy and related research projects in the
fields of tourism and transport. His research interests include economics of
tourism and transport, sustainable tourism and eco-tourism resources
management, information technology and strategic marketing, tourism services
quality management and air transport economics.

1 Introduction

The destination concept focuses on customers and producers. Destination can be seen as
an area that includes all services and offers a tourist consumes during his or her stay
(Terzibasoglu, 2004). It is a place with some form of actual or perceived boundary, such
as the physical boundary of an island, political boundaries, or even market-created
boundaries, such as those of a travel wholesaler who defines a South Pacific tour solely
as Australia and New Zealand. Central America includes only two or three nations,
such as Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama. Macro-destination is a destination that

Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

298 M.I. Eraqi

contains a number of micro-destinations such as the USA, which in turn contains

thousands of micro-destinations including regions, states, cities, towns, and even visitor
destinations within a town. Thousands of visitors fly to Orlando and proceed directly to
Disney World, where most or all of their vacation is spent. These tourists do not view
Florida or Orlando as their destinations, but rather, Disney World (Kotler et al., 2003).
Egypt as a macro-tourist destination includes a number of micro-tourist destinations such
as Luxor, Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Some tourists like to travel directly to Luxor
for cultural tourism activities.
A tourist destination is marketed through the National Tourism Organization
(NTO)/Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) or National Tourism Administrations
(NTAs). The terms tend to be used interchangeably although a DMO is always the
marketing side of an NTO/NTA, responsible for the overall marketing of a country as a
tourist destination. This shifts the focus from the marketing practice of private sector
organisations/companies to what are usually government organisations or public sector
agencies that receive all or part of their funding from the government (Middleton and
Clarke, 2001). The majority of NTOs/DMOs are not producers or operators. They
generally do not sell products directly to visitors and they are not directly responsible for
the quality of services delivered, although most aim to influence it. In developed
countries, they are typically responsible for only a small proportion, however important it
may be, of all the travel and tourism marketing programmes carried out on behalf of their
country. Destinations that have chosen to embrace or at least accept tourism as a valuable
industry must find a way to compete and succeed, and to protect the environment from
the negative impacts of tourism (Bailey, 1992). Adoption of a marketing philosophy is
the key to success, and tourism marketers that adopt the societal marketing concept will
be better off in the future, as consumers are becoming more educated and concerned
about choosing products and services that benefit rather than harm the environment
(Eraqi, 2005). One example of the societal marketing concept for tourism can be seen in
the case of bike tours of Africa. The tourist experiences the outdoors, improves his/her
well-being through exercise, learns about the history, culture, ecology, and economics
first-hand, all the while avoiding the pollution and environmental damage that would
be produced by renting a vehicle (Mill and Morrison, 1985; Poon, 1993; Richardson
and Cohen, 1993; Ringer, 1996; Seaton and Bennett, 1996; Batchelor, 1999; Gouldner
et al., 2000).
This paper attempts to explain the role of NTOs/DMOs in marketing Egypt
as a tourist destination and evaluate the overall view of inbound tourists about
Egypt as a tourist destination. It also attempts to investigate how inbound tourists see
Egypt as a macro-tourist destination in comparison to other tourist destinations in the
Mediterranean region.

2 Literature review
2.1 Dimensions of a tourist destination
Traditionally, marketing concentrates on increasing visits and treats tourism like any
other commodity. This approach fails to recognise the unique needs and limitations of
each destination as well as their particular geographical, environmental and socio-cultural
characteristics (Buhalis, 2000). Buhalis (2000) addresses the destination concept from the
strategic perspectives of destination marketing and management. Often, destinations are
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 299

regarded as geographical areas: a country, an island or a town. However, “it is

increasingly recognised that a destination can also be a perceptual concept, which can be
interpreted subjectively by consumers, depending on their travel itinerary, cultural
background, purpose of visit, educational level, and past experience” (Jafari, 2000).
Often, destinations are artificially divided by geographical and political barriers, which
fail to take into consideration consumer preferences or tourism industry functions (e.g.,
the Alps shared by France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy). Destinations are amalgams of
tourism products, offering an integrated experience to the consumers. This amalgam of
tourism products and services offered by a destination is consumed by tourists under the
brand name of the destination during their period of stay. Therefore, a destination can be
regarded as a combination (or even as a brand) of all products, services and ultimately,
experiences provided locally.

2.2 The tourist destination model

To incorporate the dimensions of tourism destination, culture, history and nature into the
concept of a tourist destination, the following model can be proposed (WTO, 1998;
Gouldner et al., 2000; and Müller and Pettersson, 2001) (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Tourist destination’s dimensions

Cultural dimension Historical dimension

(regional culture, language, (history of the region,
identity, traditions – general historical development and
and region-specific) influences)

Tourist
Destination

Nature dimension
(geographic location, climate,
landscape, location)

Source: See Chintagunta (1994), Chacko (1997) and Jonker (2004)

Dimensions of a tourist destination are DiMingo (1988), Green Hotelier (1997), Bieger
(2000), Kotler et al. (2003) and Entarga (2006):
• cultural (regional culture, language, identity, traditions – general and
region-specific, etc.)
• historical (history of the region, historical development and influences, etc.)
• nature (geographic location, climate, landscape, location, etc.).
Here, the concept of tourist destination is seen as a structure comprised of cultural,
historical and nature dimensions. These are formations of local traditions, geographic
location, landscape features, etc. These elements influence and create the unique traits
characterising and differentiating each tourist destination (Bieger, 2000). It is necessary
300 M.I. Eraqi

to look at the tourist destination as a marketing chain that consists of a number of

components such as awareness, information, booking, on-trip services, and post-trip
relationship. This chain need to be managed well as a whole for the purpose of achieving
the aims of positioning (Aaker and Shamsby, 1982; Bendixen and Cronson, 1996;
Alford, 1998).

2.3 Positioning and competitive advantage of a tourist destination

Marketing involves the creation of an image of a product or service. In the case of
tourism marketing, the product is the destination itself (Sinclair and Stabler, 1991), or
an experience of place (location and people) at a particular time (Wheeler, 1995). Thus,
the purpose of tourism marketing is to create a desirable image of the tourism destination
in the minds of potential tourists, with the goal of enticing tourists to select the
destination for their next holiday. One of the most effective tools in tourism marketing is
positioning. The objective of positioning is to create a distinctive place in the minds of
potential customers. A position that evokes images of a destination in the customers’
minds; images that differentiate the destination from the competition and also as a
place that can satisfy their needs and wants. Positioning is a communications strategy
that is the natural follow-through of market segmentation and target marketing.
Since market segmentation is based on the notion that different tourism destinations
appeal to different types of tourists, target market segments must be selected before
tourism marketers can begin to entice these potential customers. An effective positioning
strategy provides a competitive edge to a destination that is trying to convey its
attractiveness to the target market (Chacko, 1997). Positioning is more than just image
creation. This important form of market communication helps to distinguish tourism
destinations from similar destinations so that customers can choose the one that is the
most attractive.

2.4 The effectiveness of positioning

Referring to the basic rules of marketing, products and services are created to solve
customer ‘problems’ (i.e., to satisfy needs and wants) and provide benefits. Thus, to be
effective, positioning must promise the benefit the customer will receive, create
expectation, and offer a solution to the customer’s problem. If at all possible, the solution
should be different from, and better than, the competition’s solution set, especially if the
competitors are already offering a similar products/services (Bordas, 1994). Positioning
should be a single-minded concept, an umbrella from which everything else in the
organisation flows. Properly targeted, single-minded positioning affects everything a
destination does or stands for; not only advertising, but also all of its promotions.
There are two tests of effective positioning. First, the position must be believable in the
tourist’s mind. Second, the destination must deliver that promise in a consistent manner
(Bieger, 2000; Buhalis, 2000).

2.5 The process of positioning

The positioning process consists of the various steps needed to develop an effective
positioning strategy. This process must be continuous to keep up with changes in the
environment including the changing needs of the customer and the competitors’ tactics
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 301

(Chacko, 1997). This process includes (DiMingo, 1988; Ansari et al., 1994; Chacko,
1997; Bueno, 1999; Crouch and Ritchie, 1999; Bueno, 1999; Ritchie et al., 2001; Ritchie
and Crouch, 2000): market positioning, psychological positioning, objective positioning
and subjective positioning.

2.6 Tourism destination competitiveness

In the tourism literature (Aaker and Shamsby, 1982; Brumleve, 1991; Chintagunta, 1994;
Chacko, 1997), a number of studies point out that tourism destination competitiveness
can be enhanced through certain development strategies, including marketing efforts
(image, quality, positioning, branding and services), destination management efforts and
sustainable tourism. These development strategies can be considered as the processes or
actions that enable tourism destinations to achieve a maximum correlation with tourism
demand. Competitiveness is the essential goal of management and marketing strategies
(Kozak, 2001). The development of competitive strategies for a tourism destination can
be guided by previous studies in the tourism literature (Buhalis, 2000; Crouch and
Ritchie, 1999; Mihaliè, 2000; Poon, 1993; Ritchie and Crouch, 1993). According to Poon
(1993), destination competitiveness could be enhanced by permanent innovation and
ceaseless change. Flexible, segmented and customised products for the tourists’ needs are
necessary to create competitive tourism destinations. Organisation, management,
marketing, distribution and other forms of interaction and interrelationships among
tourism suppliers are fundamental sources of developing flexibility for tourism
destination competitiveness. In order to compete successfully in tourism marketplaces,
tourism destinations and their players should follow such principles as ‘put the consumer
first, be a leader in quality, develop radical innovations, and strengthen the firms’
strategic position within the industry’s value chain’. Particularly, Poon (1993) explained
that linking marketing with product development, satisfying the consumer, and
developing holistic approaches to travel experiences (e.g., destination image,
collaboration with the public sector and controlling the service delivery system, are
important strategies for destination competitiveness.
Ritchie and Crouch (1993) also discussed how tourism destinations could develop
competitive strategies. For example, a carefully selected and well-executed programme of
destination management can serve to improve the tourism competitiveness of an area;
also, through certain key activities of destination management organisation, destination
competitiveness can be enhanced. The information collected from research can enable
destinations to better manage the performance of the destination’s products, as well as to
adapt to changing market conditions through marketing strategies. Lastly, the effective
and efficient delivery of the tourism experience to tourists can contribute to destination
competitiveness. High or different levels of quality at a given cost as well as the quality
of human services, facilities and equipment are also important factors for a competitive
destination strategy (Inskeep, 1991; Mathieson and Wall, 1982; Hassan, 2000; Mihaliè,
2000). Go and Govers (2000) studied integrated quality management for tourist
destinations to achieve competitiveness. This study discussed that in order to meet the
challenge of competitors and to increase market share, maintaining and improving a
high-quality supply is required to sustain market position. Thus, integrated quality
management as a means to increase competitiveness was applied to different destinations
for seven European countries. As a result, an integrated approach to problem-solving
302 M.I. Eraqi

through relevant fields of knowledge such as urban and regional planning, cultural and
heritage preservation, and economic development is needed for the effective development
and implementation of integrated quality management for tourist destinations (Keller and
Koch, 1995; WTTC, 1991; Bieger, 2000 and Lanquar, 2003).

2.7 Characteristics of Egypt as a tourist destination and the role

of DMO/ETA
The Egyptian national tourism sector marketing strategy emphasises on quality, and aims
to foster and encourage high-quality tourism services at competitive prices. Since 1982,
Egypt has developed a new strategy aiming to increase the number of tourists visiting
Egypt. The plan was, and still is, to boost tourism demand by attracting visitors beyond
our main tourism incoming markets, namely visitors from the European Community,
USA, Canada and the Arabic countries and target new potential markets. The
predominant new markets Egypt aims to attract are: Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, Eastern
Europe, and Southern and Latin America. Up till now the Egyptian tourism sector has not
achieved the desired travel movement from Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia and
Malaysia. Scandinavia and Eastern Europe countries such as Poland, Czech Republic,
Romania and Russia, they only yielded a total of 600 000 tourists compared to 3 274 377
tourists from both western and southern Europe (Papadopoulos, 2003). The main
customers are the Germans followed by Italians, Russians, English, French and Saudi
Arabians. Egypt is promoted through advertising campaigns in the mass media,
participation and attendance in various exhibitions and the continuous renewal of
advertising material. Egyptian organisations also participate in all major international
events, while tourist planners have developed for the demanding tourist, cultural and
athletic activities reinforcing Egypt as a tourist destination and attracting people
interested in these events. There is also a great need to protect Egypt’s unique desert and
its environment and heritage resources. Sustainable development and preservation of
Egypt’s natural resources are the pillars of the Egyptian tourism plans. The primary
concern is to protect the environment by limiting tourism projects in natural reserves.
Generally, tourism properties, hard buildings, (TDA, 2002) are only allowed in 12.5% of
the land. In recognition of the country’s potential for tourism, high standards of tourism
services quality are strictly enforced and green marketing orientation is adopted within all
tourism marketing activities (TDA, 2002). The budget allocated to promote Egypt as a
macro-tourist destination abroad is about $50 million a year (El-Khadem, 2004).
According to El-Khadem (2004), 90% of the promotion budget is spent on promotion
campaigns through direct media such as the press, TV, billboards, movie and public
transport advertisements. The remaining 10% goes to the international network of tourist
offices. The Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA) is focusing its promotion activities on
the European tourist market, which is considered the main market segment, as it provides
about 65% of the inbound tourists coming to Egypt. ETA promotion policies take into
consideration the changes that took place in Europe, as there are ten countries that
have recently joined the European Union and they are mainly from the Eastern bloc. The
ETA is looking closely at these new potential tourist markets. The Arab tourist market
constitutes the second major region sending tourists to Egypt, about 16% of the total
number of travellers, and there is a need to design a new strategy that offers the Arab
tourist market’s requirements.
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 303

Egypt has adjusted the focus of its marketing campaign to attract not only cultural
tourists, but also to highlight the Red Sea Resorts, with their beaches, diving activities
and the environmental tourism facilities, taking the sustainability requirements into
consideration (El-Khadem, 2004; Ministry of Tourism, 2004).

3 Research methodology

The research population was all visitors who have departed via main points of exit
at Cairo and Alexandria during the Spring and Winter of 2003. The research sample
frame is based on the number of departures from Cairo Airport and Alexandria
Airport, which amounted to 150 356 on average (via main points of exit) per month
in 2003. The sample size was 531 inbound tourists out of the total population. The
sample size is relatively small in relation to the total population size. However,
the sample size is decided according to the outcomes of discussions with tourism
experts from the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA). The sample structure consists of
German tourists – 26% with ages ranging from 30- to 60-years-old; British tourists
– 25%, from 25- to 55-years-old; Italian tourists – 20%, from 30- to 50-years-old; French
tourists – 15%, from 20- to 65-years-old; Arab tourists – 10%, from 25- to 45-years-old
(most of them were surveyed at Alexandria Airport) and American tourists – 4%, from
30- to 45-years-old. The following table explains the main characteristics of the research
sample structure.

Table 1 Sample structure

German American
Nationality 26% British 25% Italy 20% French 15% Arab 10% 4%
No. Age No. Age No. Age No. Age No. Age No. Age
55 ≥30 38 ≥25 45 ≥30 38 ≥20 25 ≥25 8 ≥30
32 ≥38 35 ≥34 45 ≥32 25 ≥33 15 ≥35 4 ≥35
41 ≥48 37 ≥43 6 ≥46 10 ≥52 10 ≥38 8 ≥38
10 60 23 55 10 50 7 65 3 45 1 45
Total 138 133 106 80 53 21

There is a questionnaire designed for inbound tourists to measure their perception or

image about Egypt as a macro-tourist destination in the areas of tourism services quality
and the positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination. The questions in the
questionnaire are chosen according to the output points of a pilot study and discussion
with five tourism experts from the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA). Data is collected
by distributing 531 questionnaire forms at the Cairo Airport and the Alexandria Airport.
The questions in the questionnaire are designed based on the review results of the
relevant literature and with the help of the experts of ETA. The sample items are
chosen randomly.
The questions in the questionnaire are divided into two groups. The first group deals
with variables that measure the quality of tourism services in Egypt; the second one
deals with variables that measure the positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination.
304 M.I. Eraqi

Based on the Likert scale, five options are suggested (excellent, very good, good,
fair, and unacceptable) for each question/variable to measure the level of quality of
each of tourism service. Five other options (first, second, third, fourth, and fifth)
are suggested for each question/variable to measure the positioning of Egypt as a
macro-tourist destination. Statistical approaches such as Mean, t. test, Chi2, factor
analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s Test and Correlation Matrix are used to interpret and test
the research outcomes.
The validity and reliability of these processes are based on the outcomes of
discussions with the Egyptian tourism experts and the alpha value (Cronbach’s Alpha
Coefficient) that equal 0.5505 (0.7000 ≤ 0.5505 ≥ 0), which is still positive and near
the standard Alpha (0.7000).

4 Results and discussions

4.1 Competitiveness of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination
The paper depends on the statistical approach for measuring tourism services quality
and the positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination. Tourism services
quality in Egypt is measured by using a number of variables such as transportation
quality, hotel service quality, restaurant quality, tourist guide quality, drivers’ behaviour,
airport services, security and safety, and friendliness of the people from the viewpoint of
foreign tourists.
The positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination is measured depending on a
number of measures such as the rating of Egypt compared to other tourist destinations in
the Mediterranean region, the quality of tourism services, the quality of tourism
infrastructure, the quality of tourism environment and the quality of security and safety
according to the viewpoints of inbound tourists.

4.2 Quality of tourism services in Egypt

The following table shows the statistical test of tourism service quality measures using
t. test and Chi2 test to test the validity of each measure (variable). If t-Sig. (2-tailed) value
is less than or equal to 0.5 (≤ 0.05) and Chi2 Sig. value is less than or equal to
0.5 (≤ 0.05), then the validity of quality measures is approved and vice versa.
It is clear that the statistical mean of the quality measures range from 2.0584 to
4.7834. The location of this range is between ‘Fair’ and ‘Excellent’ with standard
deviation that ranges from 0.4599 to 1.0329. The validity of measures is positive (t-Sig.
(2-tailed) equal to 0.000 ≤ 0.05 and Chi2 Sig. equal to 0.000 ≤ 0.05 for all the quality
variables (measures)).
As shown in Table 2, the level of tourism service quality in Egypt is still weak in the
areas of drivers’ behaviour, transportation quality, security and safety and airport
services. The strong points are concentrated on friendliness of the people, hotel service
quality, restaurant service quality and tourist guide quality. This means that tourism
policy still concentrates on improving the performance of tourism superstructure rather
than improving the performance of tourism infrastructure.
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 305

Table 2 Validity of tourism services quality measures

95% Confidence
interval of the
Quality measures difference t-Sig.
(variables) Symbol Mean* Lower Upper t. test (2-tailed) Chi-square Chi2 sig.
Transportation X1 2.6252 2.5708 2.6797 94.668 .000 698.708 .000
quality
Hotel service X2 4.2411 4.1935 4.2886 175.076 .000 555.637 .000
quality
Restaurant quality X3 4.1940 4.1467 4.2413 174.257 .000 571.501 .000
Tourist guide X4 3.7119 3.6509 3.7728 119.636 .000 288.382 .000
quality
Driver’s behaviour X5 2.0584 1.9916 2.1252 60.554 .000 405.977 .000
Airport services X6 3.3296 3.2525 3.4067 84.853 .000 273.699 .000
Security and safety X7 3.1601 3.0720 3.2481 70.503 .000 54.921 .000
Friendliness of the X8 4.7834 4.7442 4.8226 239.681 .000 903.689 .000
people

Note: * Likert scale: 1–5 (Unacceptable – Excellent)

4.3 Proportional distribution of inbound tourists’ responses related to quality

of tourism services in Egypt
The following table explains the proportional distribution of foreign tourists according to
the Likert scale assumptions through using SPSS for Windows Version 10. The scale
weights are: Excellent = 5, Very Good = 4, Good = 3, Fair = 2, Unacceptable = 1.
According to the Likert scale analysis shown in Table 3, the average of tourism
services quality in Egypt ranges from 3.5375% to 31.625%. Most ratings are in the areas
of Very Good and Good. For example, the variables of restaurant quality, hotel service
quality and tourist guide quality are rated Very Good, while the variables of
transportation quality, airport service quality, and security and safety are rated Good. The
most important variable is the friendliness of the people that is rated Excellent.
These results support what has already been noted in Table 2, which explains
the importance of improving the performance of tourism infrastructure in the areas of
tourism transport services and security and safety systems. However, the tourism policy
in Egypt is now interested in contributing to improve the performance of the tourism
infrastructure. The government investment in this area reached 9.34 million Egyptian
pounds (L.E). These investments are allocated to improving the quality of tourism
infrastructure such as road and transport projects, environmental projects, air transport
services and safety and security. These new projects covered a number of micro-tourist
destinations such as Giza, Aswan, Alexandria, South Sinai, Port Said and the new
tourist areas. This new orientation will improve the competitiveness of Egypt as a
macro-tourist destination by improving the quality of tourism infrastructure.
306 M.I. Eraqi

Table 3 Tourism services quality in Egypt

Measures Quality scale %

Tourism services Symbol Excellent Very good Good Fair Unacceptable Total
Transportation quality X1 0.9 2.4 58.2 35.0 3.4 100
Hotel service quality X2 29.9 64.8 4.7 0.6 0.0 100
Restaurant quality X3 26.6 66.7 6.4 0.4 0.0 100
Tourist guide quality X4 12.2 49.7 35.0 3.0 0.0 100
Driver’s behaviour X5 0.6 1.5 25.8 47.5 24.7 100
Airport services X6 11.3 28.6 42.0 17.9 0.2 100
Security and safety X7 13.9 20.7 32.8 32.6 0.0 100
Friendliness of the people X8 80.0 18.6 0.9 0.4 0.0 100
Average of quality % 21.925 31.625 25.725 17.175 3.5375 100

4.4 Positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination

The next table shows the statistical test of positioning measures through the use of t. test
and Chi2 test to measure the validity of each measure of positioning (positioning
variable). If t-Sig. (2-tailed) value is less than or equal to 0.5 (≤ 0.05) and Chi2 Sig.
value is less than or equal to 0.5 (≤ 0.05), then the validity of positioning measures
(variables) is approved and vice versa.

Table 4 Validity of positioning measures

95% Confidence
interval of the
Positioning measures difference t-Sig. Chi2
(variables) Symbol Mean* Lower Upper t. test (2-tailed) Chi-square Sig.
Rate of Egypt X9 3.7043 3.6506 3.7581 135.421 .000 636.825 .000
compared to other
tourist destinations in
the Mediterranean
region
Rate of tourism X10 3.4953 3.4434 3.5472 132.198 .000 410.733 .000
service quality in
Egypt
Rate the quality of X11 3.3070 3.2500 3.3640 113.966 .000 570.798 .000
tourism infrastructure
in Egypt
Rate tourism X12 3.4388 3.3816 3.4960 118.062 .000 614.452 .000
environment quality in
Egypt
Rate the quality of X13 2.9906 2.9059 3.0753 69.376 .000 110.454 .000
security and safety in
Egypt

Note: * Likert scale: 1–5 (5th – 1st)

 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 307

It is clear that the statistical mean of the positioning measures ranges from 2.9906 to
3.7043. The location of this range is between ‘Third’ and ‘Second’ with standard
deviation that ranges from 0.6093 to 0.9933. The validity of positioning measures is
positive (t-Sig. (2-tailed) equal to 0.000 ≤ 0.05 and Chi2 Sig. equal to 0.000 ≤ 0.05 for
all the positioning variables (measures).
Results indicate that, inbound tourists see Egypt as a macro-tourist destination in the
second position or third position compared to other macro-tourist destination such as
Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Dubai, Syria and Israel, especially in the
field of new tourism activities, such as entertainment. These new tourism activities
include eco-tourism, beach tourism, therapeutic tourism and sports tourism.

4.5 Proportional distribution of inbound tourists’ responses related to the

positioning of Egypt as a tourist destination
The following table explains the proportional distribution of inbound tourists according
to Likert scale assumptions through using SPSS for Windows Version 10. The scale
weights are: Excellent = 5, Very Good = 4, Good = 3, Fair = 2, Unacceptable = 1.
According to the Likert scale analysis shown in Table 5, the average of the
positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination ranges from 0.2% to 43.78%. Most of
the measures of positioning are in the Second Rate and Third Rate. For example, the
measures/variables of the rate of Egypt compared to other tourist destinations in the
Mediterranean region (55.4%) and tourism services quality in Egypt (47.1%) are in the
second position; while the measures/variables of the quality of tourism infrastructure in
Egypt (50.5) and tourism environment quality in Egypt (55.0%) are in the third position.
The quality of security and safety in Egypt is in the fourth position, at 39.9%.

Table 5 Positioning of Egypt as a tourist destination

Variables Positioning scale %

Positioning indicators (variables) Symbol First Second Third Fourth Fifth Total
Rate of Egypt compared to other X9 8.1 55.4 35.6 0.8 0.2 100
tourist destinations in the
Mediterranean region
Rate of tourism services quality X10 2.8 47.1 46.9 3.2 0.0 100
in Egypt
Rate of the quality of tourism X11 0.9 39.0 50.5 9.0 0.6 100
infrastructure in Egypt
Rate of tourism environment X12 6.2 35.2 55.0 3.4 0.2 100
quality in Egypt
Rate of the quality of security and X13 9.8 19.4 30.9 39.9 0.0 100
safety in Egypt
Average of poisoning % 5.56 39.22 43.78 11.26 0.2 100

On the other hand, to enhance the positioning of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination, the
quality of tourism infrastructure and the quality of security and safety need to be
improved especially in the fields of road transport and food safety.
308 M.I. Eraqi

4.6 Factor analysis approach

Factor Analysis takes a large set of variables irrespective of their link to tourism services
quality or positioning measures. It looks for a way that data may be reduced or
summarised using a smaller set of factors or components. It does this by looking for
clumps or groups among the inter-correlations of a set of measures/variables.

4.7 Fitness to factor analysis

The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) is 0.6 or above. The
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity value should be significant (that is, the Sig. value should be
0.05 or smaller), therefore, under these conditions, the factor analysis is appropriate.
The following table tests the appropriateness of competitiveness measures (variables)
using the KMO and the Bartlett’s Tests.
The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) is 0.700, and the
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity is significant (p = 0.000 ≤ 0.05), therefore, the factor
analysis is appropriate (Table 6).

Table 6 KMO and Bartlett’s tests

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of .700

sampling adequacy

Bartlett’s test of sphericity Approx. chi-square 3069.394

df 78
Sig .000
Source: Based on SPSS for Windows Analysis

The following table summarises the inter-correlations among different variables

that could contribute to improving the competitiveness of Egypt as a macro-tourist
destination. Factor analysis search for correlation coefficients of 0.3 and above
(Pallant, 2001).
According to the Correlation Matrix results, one can extract that the variable X1
(transportation quality) has a good relationship with the variable X5 (drivers’ behaviour)
and the variable X6 (airport services). This means that the quality of transport system
depends on improving the quality of both drivers’ behaviour and airport services quality.
Variable X2 (hotel service quality) has a strong relationship with the variables X3
(restaurant quality), X4 (quality of tourist guides), X5 (drivers’ behaviour) and X8
(friendliness of the people). This explains how good people behaviour and suitable level
of restaurant service quality can positively affect the quality of hotel services in Egypt.
The quality of restaurant services, variable X3, has relationships with variable X4
(tourist guide services), variable X5 (driver behaviour) and variable X6 (airport services)
quality. This shows the relationship between the quality of tourism superstructure
(e.g., restaurant services) and the quality of tourism infrastructure (e.g., airport services).
Tourist guide services quality, variable X4, is affected a lot by the variable X8
(friendliness of the people). This indicates how country culture can affect business
culture positively or negatively depending on the nature of the country culture and how
tourism business culture needs a positive country culture towards the business of tourism.
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 309

Table 7 Correlation matrix

X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13

X1 1.000
X2 –.164 1.000
X3 –.204 .574 1.000
X4 .019 .519 .584 1.000
X5 .428 –.403 –.413 –.155 1.000

X6 .430 –.206 –.327 .051 .681 1.000

X7 .143 .002 –.176 .188 .439 .552 1.000
X8 –.135 .380 .291 .378 –.080 .068 –.018 1.000
X9 –.060 –.194 –.251 –.101 .257 .218 .392 .046 1.000
X10 .235 –.052 –.129 .138 –.073 .227 .294 –.061 .195 1.000
X11 –.004 –.204 –.095 –.020 –.056 –.083 –.137 .008 .350 .145 1.000

X12 –.109 .009 .045 .162 .335 .243 .508 .046 .392 –.016 .040 1.000
X13 .048 .103 –.106 .275 .243 .409 .774 .053 .460 .404 –.104 .507 1.000

In the area of positioning Egypt as a macro-tourist destination, drivers’ behaviour

(variable X5) affect variable X6 (airport services), variable X7 (security and safety) and
variable X11 (quality of tourism infrastructure in Egypt). So it is very important to
improve people’s behaviour and increase their awareness towards inbound tourism to
improve the country image in the global tourism market. Also, it is important to improve
the quality of airport services (variable X6) to improve the rate of the quality of security
and safety in Egypt (variable X13) compared to other competitive tourist destinations.
Security and safety quality (variable X7) affects both the quality of tourism infrastructure
in Egypt (variable X11) and the quality of security and safety in Egypt (variable X13).
The rate of tourism environment quality in Egypt (variable X12) depends a lot on the
drivers’ behaviour (variable X5) and the quality of security and safety (variable X7).
The rating of Egypt compared to other tourist destinations in the Mediterranean
region (variable X9) depends on security and safety (variable X7), the quality of tourism
infrastructure in Egypt (variable X11), quality of tourism environment in Egypt (variable
X12) and the quality of security and safety in Egypt (variable X13). Also, there is a good
correlation between the quality of tourism services (variable X10) and the quality of
security and safety in Egypt (variable 13).

4.8 The main factors (variables) determine tourism competitiveness considered

by current tourism policies
According to Kaiser’s criterion, the only important components (variables) are those that
have an eigenvalue of 1 or more. The following table explains this procedure.
To decide how many variables meet Kaiser’s criterion, it is necessary to search in the
total variance shown in Table 8. Scan down the variable values provided in the first set of
columns labelled Initial Eigenvalues. The eigenvalues for each component (variable) are
310 M.I. Eraqi

listed. Only the first five variables recorded eigenvalues above 1 (3.547, 2.597, 1.528,
1.278, 1.084). These five variables explain a total of 77.180% of the variance
(Cumulative % column).
This analysis summarises the main factors that meet Kaiser’s criterion and affect the
competitiveness of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination. These factors (variables)
are transportation quality in the host country (X1), hotel service quality (X2),
restaurant services quality (X3), tourist guide service quality (X4) and driver behaviour
quality (X5).

Table 8 Total variance explained

Variables Initial eigenvalues Extraction sums of squared loadings

Component Total % of variance Cumulative % Total % of variance Cumulative %
X1 3.547 27.281 27.281 3.547 27.281 27.281
X2 2.597 19.978 47.259 2.597 19.978 47.259
X3 1.528 11.751 59.010 1.528 11.751 59.010
X4 1.278 9.830 68.840 1.278 9.830 68.840
X5 1.084 8.340 77.180 1.084 8.340 77.180
X6 .782 6.014 83.193
X7 .483 3.713 86.907
X8 .396 3.046 89.953
X9 .374 2.876 92.829
X10 .319 2.453 95.282
X11 .241 1.855 97.138
X12 .200 1.537 98.674
X13 .172 1.326 100.000
Note: Extraction method: principal component analysis

4.9 Loadings of each of the variables on the chosen five variables

The following table shows the component (variables) matrix, which explains the degree
to which all measures (variables) load on the five variables (components).
It is noted in Table 9 that most of the variables load quite strongly (above 0.4) on the
first two variables, X1 and X2. A large number of variables load on variables X3, X4 and
X5. This supports the conclusion that the main factors (variables) affecting the
competitiveness of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination are: transportation quality in the
host country (X1), hotel service quality (X2), restaurant service quality (X3), tourist
guide service quality (X4) and drivers’ behaviour quality (X5).
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 311

Table 9 Component matrixa

Component
Variables X1 X2 X3 X4 X5
X7 .787 .387
X6 .766 –.388
X5 .739 –.305 .313
X13 .696 .513 –.307
X12 .519 .392 –.428
X4 .805
X2 –.380 .734
X3 –.518 .648
X9 .572 .627
X11 .612 .408 .518
X1 .381 –.590 .412
X10 .360 .785
X8 .532 .563
Notes: Extraction method: principal component analysis
a
5 components extracted

4.10 The extent to which inbound tourists like to repeat their visit to Egypt
The survey analysis explains that 63% of respondents like to visit Egypt again and 37%
of inbound tourists do not like to repeat their visit to Egypt as a macro-tourist destination.
The main reasons behind this negative result can be summarised as follows:
• traffic issues such as long distances between the country of origin and destination,
congestion, accidents on roads and bad behaviour of taxi drivers (35.4%)
• environment issues such as air pollution and noise, especially in
Greater Cairo (28.3%)
• unclean streets (23.7%)
• lack of awareness of people (12.6%).
The attractiveness of the tourist destination can be deteriorated by violence, political
instability, natural catastrophes, adverse environmental factors and overcrowding.
Greece’s national treasure, the once white marble Parthenon in Athens, now stands as a
pollution-stained symbol of environmental neglect. Thailand’s beautiful beach resorts and
temples have been severely destructed by pollution and poor sanitation. The Indian
government’s plans to establish a ‘Visit India Year’ were undermined not only by
sectarian and caste violence, but also by plane crashes. Western countries including the
USA and Japan, declared India to be an unsafe destination. Most Western countries see
the Gulf Area and Israel as unsafe tourist destinations. Some inbound tourists consider
the Cairo Museum area as an unsafe destination because it is suffering from traffic jam
and pollution.
312 M.I. Eraqi

Several tourist destinations have been identified as suffering from a lack of location
maintenance. These include Pattaya, Thailand; Bali, Indonesia; Pyramids Area, Egypt;
and Huatulco, Mexico. Many North American destinations are also experiencing visitor
overuse or deterioration, including the Sedona, Arizona Area. The destructive visitor
behaviour could destroy the base on which Sedona’s tourism is built (Kotler et al., 2003).
Tourist destinations’ managers have to manage their tourism services (tourism products)
and make sure that during the growth stage, the foundation is built for an infrastructure
that will support the increasing future tourism demands.

5 Conclusion and implications

The literature explains that the main features of successful tourist destination can be
summarised as follows: it is important for marketing tourist destination to have a
knowledge and understanding of the needs of tourists related to transport services, hotels,
restaurants, tourist guides, security and safety, etc. To increase the competitiveness
of the destination by improving the offered tourist products and services and improving
the quality of tourism superstructure, it is necessary to maintain a suitable system
designed to encourage the synergy among all the stakeholders in creating the destination
vision. Public-private partnership in the key areas of management and marketing is very
vital in maintaining a continuous system to follow up on the quality of tourist services
within the boundary of the destination and the quality of both tourism superstructure and
tourism infrastructure.
According to the Likert scale, most of the tourism quality measures/variables are
rated Very Good and Good. For example, the variables of restaurant quality, hotel service
quality and tourist guides quality are rated Very Good, while the variables of
transportation quality, airport services quality, and security and safety are rated Good.
The most important variable is the friendliness of the people that is rated Excellent. The
main weak point comes from the tourism transport services quality such as airport
services quality and the bad behaviour of drivers.
Inbound tourists see Egypt as a macro-tourist destination in the second position or
third position compared to other macro-tourist destination such as Turkey, Tunisia,
Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Dubai, Syria and Israel especially in the field of new tourism
activities, such as entertainment. This new tourism includes eco-tourism, beach tourism,
therapeutic tourism and sports tourism. These new types of tourism need a strong
network of tourism infrastructure. The tourism superstructure needs to be designed
according to sustainable tourism development requirements. There is a strong
relationship between the quality of tourism superstructure and tourism infrastructure.
This means that improving tourism infrastructure such as transportation system, security
and safety institutions and environment indicators will improve the quality of the tourism
superstructure. This will lead to the improvement of the competitiveness of Egypt as a
macro-tourist destination. Some inbound tourists do not like to visit Egypt again as a
macro-tourist destination. The main reasons behind this negative result are traffic issues
such as the long distances between the tourists’ countries of origin and the tourist
destination in the host country (Egypt), congestion, road accidents and bad behaviour of
taxi drivers, and environment issues such as air pollution and noise, especially in Greater
Cairo, unclean streets and the lack of awareness of the people.
 Egypt as a macro-tourist destination 313

To improve the marketing of Egypt as a macro-tourist destination, it is necessary for

tourism policies to concentrate on improving the quality of the tourism infrastructure.
This will guarantee the quality of the tourism superstructure. It is important to raise the
awareness of people concerning the importance of inbound tourism to the Egyptian
economy. This will reflect itself on improving the taxi drivers’ behaviour and the
cleanliness of streets, and thus will improve the inbound tourist image of Egypt. To
encourage visitors to visit Egypt again, there should be some kind of cooperation between
Egypt and the other countries in the region by designing shared tourism programmes and
strategic alliances in the fields of security and safety.

Acknowledgements

The researcher would like to thank Mr. Nazmy Amin, Mr. Magdy Selim, Mr. Tamer
Marzouk, Mr. Mohamed Salama and Mrs. Azza Abbas from ETA and Mrs. Motiha Morsi
from Egypt Air for their help and support in designing the questionnaire, choosing the
questions and data collection.

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