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186 Egypt
In tourism, the idea of efficiency has been
associated with cost reduction policies in the
Fordian age of tourism �mass production and
consumption of standardised tourism services),
but only more recently has it come to play a role
within the concept of competitiveness, central
in contemporary policy. Short-term price competition
has been prevalent for many years in the
industry, but there is a better understanding now
of the crucial role of quality ± and consumer
satisfaction and fidelisation ± in the competitiveness
of tourism enterprises and destinations. In this
respect, it is interesting to realise that the
methodology of total quality management �TQM)
has implications of efficiency beyond those of
consumer satisfaction. Quality in tourism services
�or meeting the tourists' expectations) has an
obvious effect in securing the clientele of a
destination. But it should also be clear that
satisfying the `internal customers' of a tourism
production process will eliminate wastage and may
result in a `zero defects' or efficient process. Thus,
tourism quality means also efficiency in the existing
production process.
However, the concept of tourism efficiency has
further implications since the methodology of
TQM does not go as far as comparing the relative
efficiency of all processes possible. In accepting that
tourism business processes have to meet the
expectations of a large enough set of consumers ±
now or within a foreseeable time horizon ± it is
possible to analyse the comparative efficiency of
alternative business processes fulfilling the condition
of client satisfaction so as to select the
optimum process. This methodology, also referred
to as business process re-engineering, deals frontally
with the questions of efficiency beyond the
limited `zero defects approach' which characterises
TQM.
Finally, it is important to recognise that in the
business paradigm of the new era of tourism
�characterised by segmentation of demand, flexibility
of business processes and the search for
profitability beyond economies of scale) success
in the markets may depend on strategic positioning
as a prerequisite, with `ordinary' competitiveness
�quality plus efficiency) assuring only short-term
survival of the firm or the destination. The
positioning of the firm/resort within a value
network of suppliers, customers, competitors and
complementors becomes all-important, and the
methodologies of quality and efficiency simply
assist in the rationality of competitiveness.
References
Samuelson, P.A. and Nordhaus, W.D. �1993)
Economics, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Further reading
Bull, A. �1994) The Economics of Travel and Tourism,
London: Pitman.
Castells, M. �1989) The Informational City, Oxford:
Blackwell.
Fayos-SolaÁ, E. �1996) `Tourism policy: a midsummer
night's vision', Tourism Management, September.
Graselli, P. �1992) Economia e polõÂtica del turismo,
Milan: Centro Italiano di Studi Superiori sul
Turismo, Assisi, Franco Angeli.
EDUARDO FAYOS-SOLAÁ ,SPAIN
AURORA PEDRO, SPAIN
ego-enhancement see motivation; prestige
Egypt
Egypt, one of the oldest countries in the world, is
labelled as the storehouse of history and the land
of eternity. It has a central location between the
countries of Africa, Asia and Europe. It possesses a
unique cultural and archaeological wealth that
dates back to prehistoric periods and includes the
immortal pharaonic monuments. It has a coastline
on both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea that
extends for more than 2,300 kilometres. The River
Nile, longest river in the world �4,600 kilometres)
runs from south to north in Egypt for 1,200
kilometres, creating fertile land and making possible
sedentary life for more than 60 million Egyptians.
Egypt's capital city, Cairo, is a metropolis of
more than 14 million inhabitants. The country has
more than seventy-five other cities and towns,
supplemented by more than 5,000 villages. It has