dossier sur le tourisme et le développement durable

12
Tourist flows
The speed of development of domestic tourism in the countries of the south and east
Mediterranean demonstrates that there is real aspiration for holidays in these countries as soon
as the economic development permits it. Some national data shows the current growth of this
phenomenon:
• In Egypt the annual growth rate in the number of domestic overnight stays has been 11.6% since
1993. Although the rate of departures remains low (estimated at 5-10%), Egyptians represent about
66% of the overnight stays on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast.
• In Tunisia, the domestic and Maghreb clients make up between 7 and 10 % of the demand.
• 33% of the residents of Malta went abroad and 35% had holidays in the country in 1991.
• In Cyprus, the number of overnight domestic stays increased by 150% between 1985 and 1998.
• In Turkey, domestic tourism represented 15.8 million stays of 4 nights or more, of which 15.3 million in
Turkey (94.3% for holidays, 4.8% for business reasons). The number of stays increased by 74.3%
between 1992 and 1997, and overnight stays by 389%.
In several southern- and eastern countries (in particular in Morocco), the rise in the internal
demand is no more considered as an adjustment for the decline in international tourists. It
henceforth constitutes a proper clientele.
Yet, domestic tourism is still not well known. The WTO has little precise homogeneous data on
this matter, making comparisons between countries difficult. Worldwide, there are 4 to 5 times
more domestic stays than international stays. In the Mediterranean, domestic tourism is a part
of tourism that cannot be disregarded. This is highlighted when there are crises in international
tourism and domestic tourism proves to be capable of taking over and thus minimising negative
economic repercussions in the hotel industry (see below, Figure 9).
The shortage of data often leads to estimates, especially concerning the rate of departure on
holiday. Plan Bleu made such an assessment in 2000 using surveys carried out in some
countries and information supplied by national experts. This rate is about 10% in Syria and
Egypt, 25% in Turkey, 45% in Greece, 52% in Spain and Israel, 72% in France (Annex,
Table 15). The indicator “rate of departure on holiday” does, however, present some difficulties,
especially in the small islands where the populations take holidays, sometimes in a holiday
home, but at a very limited distance from their residence. In Malta and Gozo, for instance, there
are more than 12 000 summer residences. “Access to holidays” is more important there than the
notion of “rate of departure”. In the less developed countries, the figures no doubt hide some
habits that cannot be counted such as unofficial camping on the Mediterranean coasts of
Morocco and Egypt, a habit that was also present in France and in Spain in recent years.
Social and family motives
Domestic tourism is generally the result of a mixture between traditional travel (visits to
relatives, spas, pilgrimages) and appropriation-adaptation of leisure activities introduced by
international tourism (swimming, aquatic activities, excursions, and so on). Compared to
international tourism that is largely motivated by leisure, domestic tourism is characterised by a
wider variety of activities.
Social and family motives are often determining factors for holidays. In France they account for
50% of the trips; in Greece for more than 30% and more than 50% during the Christmas
holidays. The main stimulus varies, however, depending on the type of area visited: leisure
dominates seaside trips, social reasons dominate trips to cities or the countryside.
In the Mediterranean, religious motives are probably greater than in other regions of the world.
They tend to be combined more and more with culture and leisure activities, in the framework of
organised tourist trips. In 1995, Plan Bleu estimated that there were between 80 and 90 million
people travelling in the countries of the periphery of the Mediterranean for religious or similar
reasons. Rome and Lourdes welcome more than 5 million visitors every year, more for big
occasions (Jubilee 2000). In Muslim countries, pilgrimages are also frequent: Konya in Turkey,
Mostaganem in Algeria, Kairwan in Tunisia, Fes in Morocco. Israel and the Palestine Territories
also enjoy high potential for cultural and religious tourism.