Economic reform, privatization and tourism in Egypt

Middle Eastern Studies

Volumn 34, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 91-112

  Gray, Matthew ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC REFORM; LIBERALISATION; PRIVATISATION; TOURISM DEVELOPMENT;

EGYPT;

EID: 0031852252     PISSN: 00263206     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00263209808701224     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. Nazih Ayubi, 'Etatisme versus Privatization: The Changing Role of the State in 9 Arab Countries', Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey (hereafter, ERF) Working Paper Series, Working Paper 9511 (Cairo: ERF, 1995), pp.7-9.
2. On the Thomas Cook Company and its introduction and development of guided tours to the Middle East, see John Pudney, The Thomas Cook Story (London: Michael Joseph, 1953), chs. 19-23.
3. Khalid Ikram, Egypt: Economic Management in a Period of Transition (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press for the World Bank, 1980), p.296.
4. Ibid., p.296.
5. See Galal A. Amin, Egypt's Economic Predicament: A Study in the Interaction of External Pressure, Political Folly and Social Tension in Egypt, 1960-1990 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1995), pp.5-9.
6. Ikram, Egypt, pp.301-2.
7. Roberto Aliboni et al., Egypt's Economic Potential (London: Croom Helm, 1984), pp.26-7.
8. Ikram, Egypt, pp.296-7.
9. Alan Richards, 'The Political Economy of Dilatory Reform: Egypt in the 1980s', World Development, Vol.19, No.12 (1991), pp.1721-30. In Denis J. Sullivan, 'The Political Economy of Reform in Egypt', International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.22 (1990), pp.317-34 the term 'gradualism' (p.320) is used to describe Egyptian economic reform during the 1980s.
10. Alan Richards, 'The Political Economy of Dilatory Reform: Egypt in the 1980s', World Development, Vol.19, No.12 (1991), pp.1721-30. In Denis J. Sullivan, 'The Political Economy of Reform in Egypt', International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.22 (1990), pp.317-34 the term 'gradualism' (p.320) is used to describe Egyptian economic reform during the 1980s.
11. Simon Brindle, 'Enticing the Tourists Back', The Middle East (May 1991), p.36.
12. Losses include about US$625 million in the hotel sector, US$275 million in shops catering to tourists (especially antique shops and the like), US$200 million to travel agencies and tour companies, and US$100 million to Egyptair. See ibid., p.36.
13. Ibid., p.36.
14. Aliboni et al., Egypt's Economic Potential, p.116.
15. See Alan Mackie, 'Egypt Slowly Improves its Amenities', Middle East Economic Digest (hereafter MEED), Special Report on 'Business Travel' (June 1982), p.32.
16. Brindle, 'Enticing the Tourists Back', p.36.
17. Author's interview, Cairo, 16 May 1996.
18. Nazih Ayubi, 'Etatism versus Privatization: The Case of the Public Sector in Egypt', International Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol.56 (1990), p.98.
19. 'Tourism: Investors Stampede to Get In', MEED, Special Report on 'Egypt', 8 June 1990, p. 18.
20. Ibid., p.18.
21. See Robert Bailey, 'The Future for Middle East Airlines', MEED, 13 Jan. 1989, p. 10.
22. Robert Bailey, 'Financing Fleet Expansion', MEED, 13 Jan. 1989, p.7.
23. On the Egypt-IMF negotiations of the late 1980s and early 1990s, see David Seddon, 'The Politics of Adjustment: Egypt and the IMF, 1987-1990', Review of African Political Economy, Vol.47 (Spring 1990), pp.95-104; and Tim Niblock, 'International and Domestic Factors in the Economic Liberalization Process in Arab Countries', in Tim Niblock and Emma Murphy (eds.), Economic and Political Liberalization in the Middle East (London: British Academic Press, 1993), pp.58-71.
24. On the Egypt-IMF negotiations of the late 1980s and early 1990s, see David Seddon, 'The Politics of Adjustment: Egypt and the IMF, 1987-1990', Review of African Political Economy, Vol.47 (Spring 1990), pp.95-104; and Tim Niblock, 'International and Domestic Factors in the Economic Liberalization Process in Arab Countries', in Tim Niblock and Emma Murphy (eds.), Economic and Political Liberalization in the Middle East (London: British Academic Press, 1993), pp.58-71.
25. Simon Bromley and Ray Bush, 'Adjustment in Egypt? The Political Economy of Reform', Review of African Political Economy, Vol.60 (1994), pp.201-13.
26. Hans Lofgren, 'Economic Policy in Egypt: A Breakdown in Reform Resistance?', International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.25 (1993), p.415.
27. Ibid., pp.411-12.
28. Sarah Gauch, 'Speedy Reforms Urged for Egypt', Christian Science Monitor, 18 Dec. 1991, p.7.
29. This point is made in Raymond A. Hinnebusch, 'The Politics of Economic Reform in Egypt', Third World Quarterly, Vol.14, No.1 (1993), p.166.
30. American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Privatization in Egypt: Problems and Recommendations (Cairo: American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, n.d.), pp.3-6.
31. Arab Republic of Egypt Public Enterprise Office, General Procedures and Guidelines for the Government's Programs of Privatization, Restructuring and Reward System (Cairo: Government of Egypt and Public Enterprise Office, 14 Feb. 1993), pp.51-4.
32. Author's interview, Cairo, 15 May 1996.
33. Author's interview, Cairo, 6 May 1996.
34. Sarah Gauch, 'Egypt's Slow Privatization Frustrates Businesses', Christian Science Monitor, 25 Nov. 1992, p.9.
35. Sarah Gouch, 'Egypt Prepares to Privatize', Christian Science Monitor, 4 May 1992, p.7.
36. Economist Intelligence Unit, Business Middle East, reprinted in 'Egypt: Politics Stalls Bank Sell-Offs', Reuters, 28 June 1995.
37. Mark Huband in the Financial Times, 13 May 1997, p. 10, reprinted in 'Egypt: Privatisation - Handover Needs Some Juggling', Reuters, 13 May 1997.
38. Mark Huband in the Financial Times, 13 May 1997, p. 10, reprinted in 'Egypt: Privatisation - Handover Needs Some Juggling', Reuters, 13 May 1997.
39. Ibid., n.p.
40. Gouch, 'Egypt Prepares to Privatize', p.7.
41. Steve Negus, 'Mubarak's New Government', Middle East International, No.517, 19 Jan. 1996, pp. 13-14.
42. See Privatization Middle East and North Africa (PMENA), 22 July 1996, Internet site located at http://www.pmena.com.
43. Brochure distributed by the PEO, Government of Egypt Privatisation Program (Cairo: PEO, February 1996), no page numbers.
44. Simon Brindle, 'A High Rise Economy', The Middle East (Jan. 1995), p.26.
45. Ibid., p.26.
46. On the taxation system and some of the reforms of the 1990s, see Hazem Hassan, 'A PSD-Friendly Tax System', in Marcelo M. Giugale and Hamed Mobarak (eds.), Private Sector Development in Egypt (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1996), pp.74-104.
47. Brindle, 'A High Rise Economy', p.26.
48. See 'wazir al-siyyaha al-misriyy, al-biltagi: 1994 kharuj al-siyyaha min azmatiha' ('Minister of Tourism of Egypt, al-Biltagi: 1994, Tourism Overcomes its Crisis'), al-Iqtisad wa al-A 'amal, Special Issue 'Tourism Without Borders', Year 16, March 1995, pp.68-9.
49. 'Egypt: Privatisation - Handover Needs Some Juggling', n.p.
50. Author's interview, Cairo, 6 May 1996.
51. Approximate figure only, based on preliminary data supplied by the Information Centre of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Cairo, obtained by the author 2 May 1996.
52. Karim el-Gawhary, 'Sex Tourism in Cairo', Middle East Report, No. 196 (Sept.-Oct. 1995), pp.26-7.
53. See The Egyptian Businessmen's Association, 'The Role of the Government' and the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, 'The Role of the Private Sector', both in Giugale and Mobarak (eds.), Private Sector Development in Egypt, pp. 12-28 and 29-44.
54. Said el-Naggar, 'Development, the Liberal Way, Part 1', Al-Ahram Weekly, 11-17 April 1996, p. 10.
55. During his tenure as Minister of Tourism, Sultan aggressively supported not only the tourism sector, but reforms to, and the liberalization of, tourism. See Mustafa Kemal Al-Sayyid, 'Privatization: The Egyptian Debate', Cairo Papers in Social Science (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press), Vol.13, Monograph 4 (Winter 1990), ch.3 and especially (on Sultan) pp.28-30.
56. See John Waterbury, Exposed to Innumerable Delusions: Public Enterprise and State Power in Egypt, India, Mexico, and Turkey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), ch.6.
57. At the time that its first aircraft were delivered, in 1989, ZAS had authorization to operate from Egypt to Addis Ababa, Mogadishu, Valletta, Lisbon and Amsterdam. See Bailey, 'The Future for Middle East Airlines', p.11.
58. 'Punishing Punches', The Middle East (Nov. 1993), p.40.
59. 'Egypt: Egypt Tourism Chamber Says May Set Up Own Airline', Reuters, 2 March 1997.
60. Author's interview, Cairo, 12 May 1996.
61. Author's interview with a tourism consultant, Bahrain, 30 June 1996.
62. 'Akthar min 7 milayin sa'ih fi al-'amm 2002' ('More than 7 Million Tourists by the Year 2002'), al-Iqtisad wa al-A'amal, Special Issue 'Tourism and Prospective Peace', Year 18, May 1996, pp.72-3.
63. Egyptian Businessmen's Association, 'The Role of the Government', p.27.
64. Author's interview with a tourism consultant, Bahrain, 30 June 1996.
65. Gareth Shaw and Allan M. Williams, Critical Issues in Tourism: A Geographical Perspective (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), pp.83-4 (Box 4.2).
66. Soraya Altorki, Tourism Development on Egypt's Desert Northwest Coast', speech to the Third AUC Research Conference, 'Sustainable Development in Egypt', American University in Cairo, Cairo, 22 April 1996.
67. 'Egypt: 1995 was Record Year for Egyptian Tourism', Reuters, 11 Feb. 1996.
68. Cassandra, 'The Impending Crisis in Egypt', Middle East Journal, Vol.49, No.1 (Winter 1995), p. 19.
69. The major five-star hotels in Cairo, for example, have about three or four expatriate staff per one thousand local staff, a ratio which the Egyptian government closely monitors and controls. Not all of the highly skilled, well-paid jobs go to foreigners; Egyptians are typically employed in senior positions in operations, accounting, marketing, general management, and in trades such as chef positions. Author's interviews with several managers of four- and five-star hotels, Cairo, May 1996.
70. Economist Intelligence Unit, Egypt: Country Report, Third Quarter, 1994 (London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 28 July 1994), p.27, quoted in Cassandra, 'The Impending Crisis in Egypt', p. 19.
71. Economist Intelligence Unit, Egypt: Country Report, Third Quarter, 1994 (London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 28 July 1994), p.27, quoted in Cassandra, 'The Impending Crisis in Egypt', p. 19.