THE RED SEA AS TOURIST DESTINATION

Abstract

Attracted by the rich marine life and favorable climate, tourism has become important for many Red Sea countries, with over 1 million tourists per year expected in the future. Extensive areas of the coastline have been developed to accommodate the increasing flux of tourists, especially in Aqaba of Jordan, the Jeddah coastline of Saudi Arabia and various areas along the Egyptian coastline. Many researchers have described the development of tourism on the Red Sea coast. But there are few publications about the possibilities of tourism development on the basis of water resources of the Red Sea. It is therefore very important to explore the possibilities of development of water tourism in the Red Sea. Through recent decades, significant advances in technology and the increase in international travel have made marine environments more accessible both in real and economic terms. Coastal and marine tourism has become a huge business that forms a significant component of the growing global tourism industry. The number of tourists attractions is not only determined by the capacity of the attractions themselves, but also by four other components: natural resources and environment; socially-economic environment; transportation; cultural resources. It discusses the concept of sustainable tourism development in the area, which leads to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and natural needs can be fulfilled while maintaining culture integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems. Travel and Tourism has less impact on natural resources and the environment than most other industry. The article contains the main Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) for water tourism in Red Sea. The SWOT approach is used to synthesize the results of the discussions and analysis of materials obtained in the study. SWOT analysis shows that the strengths outweigh the weaknesses and the opportunities outweigh the threats. There are three basic reasons why marine tourism, and tourism in general will continue to grow. Primarily, there is still a large potential for growth in the tourism sector, and the marine tourism sector as a key tourism component will naturally benefit from this growth. Secondarily, the tourism sector will also benefit from improved communication and transportation technologies.