Why Egypt can learn a thing or two from Dubai about tourism

An airport provides the first impression of a country. Run into bureaucratic obstruction before you enter a country and this is not a good sign of things to come.

Dubai scores highly in this regard, with a spanking new terminal and very rapid processing of passengers who sometimes look a bit dizzy as they speed away in efficiently arranged ground transportation.

Cairo fails abysmally. Perhaps one should not expect an architectural fantasia in a Third World country. But having to wait half an hour because the head of passport control is on tea break is inexcusable in any place, and in Dubai might well be the last one he took.

Sadly the switch from public sector tourism infrastructure to private sector hotels is similarly challenged. Now perhaps it is unfair to pick on the Four Seasons Hotel. But award-winning hotels should be more careful with their reputation.

In a stay of three days this correspondent found two main courses almost inedible. Chicken becomes too tough when micro-waved for too long. The source on pasta can be bland if ingredients are forgotten. But it's just not good enough in a five-star hotel.

It could all be down to over-manning. Seldom have so many rendered services to so few. A dozen good-mornings before reaching breakfast is too much; and the profusion of security guards is also a little out of control.

Indeed, Egypt could perhaps relax a bit. No pyramid is complete these days without half a dozen police with machine guns mounted on camels. More subtle precautions would be welcome and less scary for the tourists.

Dubai goes to the other extreme. Security is assured but not seen, which presumably might be far more effective if anything actually happened. Cairo could learn again from Dubai.

Maybe the curators of the Egyptian Museum, built in 1902 and hardly changed since could also gain from a visit to the Dubai Museum. Now nobody would suggest the treasures of Tutankhamun should be compared to the very modest possessions of a few pearl divers.

Rather it is that Dubai has made so much of so little, while the Egyptian Museum has endless priceless artifacts poorly displayed and being poked at by thousands of tourists a day. Why not make the latter pay a decent entry fee? Why not create a museum shop retailing reproductions?

Maybe it is just that Egypt has enjoyed its attraction to tourists for too long and has grown complacent, while saavy Dubai has put it altogether in not much more than a decade.

But surely it is high time that the Egyptians started making more out of tourism by modernizing their approach, becoming more efficient and giving tourists a good deal.

One last point would be that ripping tourists off is a fools' paradise, as they do not come back. Dubai today enjoys up to 60% repeat business in its hotels because it offers outstanding value, and even the taxis are honest.

Does the Four Seasons not realize that overcharging guests for cars to make the 20-minute trip to the pyramids creates a bad impression? Or do the guides not realize that taking their customers to be pummeled by carpet sellers or to highly inflated gift shops is bad for business in the long term?

Likewise, perhaps some of the Egyptian Tourism Police could clear the entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza from small-time con-artists and keep the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World welcoming for high-spending tourists. It would not happen in Dubai!