The community of Marsa Alam is at a critical junction in the Red Sea’s fast evolving tourism industry. A window of opportunity is upon us to position this destination as a leader in environmental conservation, resource management, and community based activism. This tourism model is the basis of a revolutionary new campaign, which aims to develop & re-position the overall tourism performance and competitiveness of the Marsa Alam region.
With the advent of social networks like Facebook and Twitter, never has the average person had this sort of platform, which has triggered global activism and mobilization the likes of which we haven’t seen before.
marsa-alam.org is an exciting new web-site and resource portal dedicated to the community of Marsa Alam. This on-line community is a platform for social networking and open-source collaboration; a place where your voice can be heard and reiterated. It will allow our community to become more involved, connect with each other, share news and information, and to ultimately help us in protecting this region from unsustainable development and industrial destruction.
The ultimate purpose of this website is to promote a tourism model encompassing the natural heritage and biological diversity of the southern Red Sea. Our goal is to re-position the overall tourism performance and competitiveness of the Marsa Alam region, to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for this developing community and long term profitability for its citizens and stakeholders.
Anybody who’s visited the south will unanimously agree that a magical atmosphere permeates this environment. Of all the things that this region has to offer it is this singular force that keeps visitors returning time and time again. Marsa Alam’s coastal waters are a crystalline aquarium that dazzle under the pure reflection of the sky. Its world-class reef topography sustains an overwhelming variety of marine flora and fauna. Marine mammals such as dolphins, dugongs, mantas, and sharks are some of the most popular underwater attractions.
The regions natural attractions are not limited to the sea and include cultural tourism, mountains and landscapes, terrestrial wildlife and historical & archeological sites. There are a number of reefs, islands and coastal regions, which are protected areas and national parks. National parks such as Wadi el Gemal are featuring islands and coastal mangroves, which sustain a diverse array of species from birds, turtles, terrestrial plants and mammals, and indigenous “Bedouin” tribes. The Bedouin tribes’ cohabitating the regions and an abundance of wildlife offers immense potential for cultural & wildlife tourism. There are also many archeological sites dating back to the Roman times and many examples of rock art dating back to pre-historic times.
“These contrasting ecosystems are the basis of much of the region’s rich and unique biodiversity, its fisheries production, its conservation and recreational values. They are also vital to the livelihood of the coastal populations; they stabilize and protect the coastline, and buffer changes in water quality. These ecosystems are interconnected; a decline in the health of one will have impacts on the others.”
www.presga.org
With so much at stake for this newly developing community, resource management and protection is the only way to ensure long-term economic sustainability. Resource management therefore becomes a communal responsibility; uniting and strengthening us under this common cause.