The artificial village that could solve travel’s biggest problem

First published on Metro

The sun is setting over El Gouna’s shoreline, bathing its domed houses and twisting lagoons in golden light. 

I’m walking in the shallows, a quarter mile from the Egyptian coast, when I look at the Red Sea oasis and consider the contradiction I’d been wrestling with for days — I was in a beautiful place that didn’t feel historic, but didn’t feel new.

‘It’s strange here isn’t it?’ says Ben, another guest who had walked out with me. ‘It feels fake and real at the same time’.

I knew exactly what he meant.

When too many tourists ruin a destination

When I first heard about El Gouna and its goal to create a place that counters the harmful effcts of mass tourism, I thought of the first time I visited Marrakech in Morocco, nearly 30 years ago.

I remember being so enchanted by the city, its cultural richness, its intensity, the smells of the spices and the markets ablaze with lights and sounds well into the night. To my eight-year-old eyes, it was so unfamiliar that it felt magical. 

Fast forward to today and Marrakech attracts four million visitors a year, its narrow streets bursting with Airbnbs and tourist deals. The ‘Red City’ is a textbook example of how tourism can overwhelm a place, commercialising traditional cultures and draining identity. It’s no surprise it has all but vanished from the must-visit lists of seasoned travellers.

This is the dilemma facing many who work in travel. Tourism brings in money and boosts the economy, but it comes at a cost. Authenticity begins to fade. Locals are forced out due to rising prices. Heritage sites get damaged. 

How do we allow tourism to thrive without erasing the very things that attract visitors in the first place? Several destinations have tried to limit numbers, while others attempt to strike a balance. 

Places like El Gouna promise something different.

This man-made oasis draws tourists away from the classic hotspots of Luxor and Aswan to artificial lagoons on the Red Sea. No local communities or cultures are impacted, it is largely self-sustainable, and visitors are satisfied with the warmth of the Egyptian sun, delicious food and striking architecture that mimics traditional Nubian towns.

With interest piqued, I took a five-hour flight from London to nearby Hurghada to visit El Gouna and see if it could be the model for more sustainable tourism.

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