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Enhancing the Cultural Tourism in Aswan City from Perspectives of the Special Needs Tourists

Fatma

Tour Guide, Aswan, Egypt

| 2 mins read

Special needs tourism is one of the fastest-growing and profitable markets in tourism, about 650 million people worldwide are now had a form of disability. This number is estimated to create a large possible group of customers of the tourism industry by 2030 (Small and Darcy, 2011; Darcy, 2012; UNWTO, 2013).

In spite of what Egypt possesses of tourism attractions, especially the cultural and historical heritage which is not available to many countries in the world, as Egypt abounds about 35% of the total monuments in the whole world, in addition to the natural and climatic conditions (Ramadn, 2000). Special needs tourism is a modern product that does not get what it deserves as a globally growing product, which increases the integrated range of tourism in Egypt to fit with what Egypt possesses of the fundamentals tourist attractions and human abilities (Abo Bakr, 2000). The study of Abo Bakr (2000) showed the lack of services and facilities needed by the disabled tourist in Egypt such as infrastructure, transportation, accommodation, and attractions.

Mahmood et al. (2010) confirmed that special needs tourism is a new horizon for Egyptian cultural tourism, which is not challenging to use in increasing the national income and open new markets. It needs more care, although Rashed and Hanafi (n. d) stated that cultural tourism has been one of the original kinds of tourism since foreign expeditions in Egypt about the 19th century, and it is still preserved the largest slice of the tourism industry in Egypt.

Aswan represented an important international winter resort and a major tourist destination (Abu Al Majd, 2003; Nagar and Altouhamy, 2017). The tourist guides play a significant role in this effort, as their role as ambassadors of the city according to their qualifications; and have a strong influence on the tourist's satisfaction and the success of the tour (Ap and Wong, 2001; Huang et al., 2010; Melia, 2012; Mweiwa and Chilembwe, 2014). Therefore, enhancing the participation of the special needs tourists in the cultural tourism in Aswan city is of great importance to the tourism industry. 

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