Egypt is an incredibly attractive tourism destination; it all started more than 2000 years ago when Roman travellers visited Egypt to see the ancient pharaonic ruins.
Today tourism is Egypt’s most important industry, with 2.2 million jobs – however over 75% of the country’s tourist activity is concentrated on the Red Sea – thus mass tourism threatens to ruin Egypt’s unique heritage.
Fortunately there is an extremely active Ecotourism Committee in the Egyptian Tourism Federation, accessible at http://www.etf.org.eg/ETFCommittees.asp?comm_id=3
Their area of action includes protecting natural areas and cracking down on illegal hunting.
They also produce a weekly half-hour program in cooperation with Egyptian satellite television called Egypt the Land of Beauty which features Egypt’s protected areas, ecotourism activities, eco-lodges, and indigenous tribes of Egypt’s three deserts.
The passage of a law in 1983 has also led to the declaration of 27 protected areas in Egypt that you can locate online at the following map:
I went to http://www.EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com and they list a nice size list of eco-conscious places to stay while visiting Egypt; they list specifics on what eco-conscious features a hotel has to offer, helping travelers limit their impact on Egypt! I appreciate the information and hope those traveling remain aware of the responsibility to protect the unique culture and heritage of Egypt.