Managing political crisis and its impact on tourism : the case of January 25th revolution in Egypt

Abstract EN

This study aims at examining the impact of January 25 revolution on the image of Egypt as a tourist destination.

It further seeks for suggesting a managerial framework for dealing with such types of political crisis.

Eight in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, particularly from the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA).

Six major findings were elaborated out of these prolonged interviews.

Among these findings are the media coverage has a direct negative impact on the image of Egypt; absence of a specialized department for crisis management in the ETA; absence of team work culture and immigration of the trained personnel from the Egyptian Tourism Private sector.

Out of these key findings, the research has elicited some recommendations that can propose a managerial framework for dealing with crisis of nolitical nature.