MOTRIS - 3rd IRT INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE EGYPT

The 3^rd IRT International Scientific Conference will take place in Egypt from Saturday 24^th to Monday 26^thof October 2009.

The Conference, promoted by the Helwan University, is organized by ARCES University College, the Research Center CRUEC and the Embassy of Italy in Egypt with the cooperation of the Palermo University.

The theme of the conference regards the development and the territories of the Mediterranean in an Integrated Relational Tourism approach, while respecting the cultural and environmental sustainability.

The Scientific Committee of the Conference invites all those interested to submit their scientific contribution on the aforementioned theme and on the topics related to tourism and to local development in Mediterranean countries.

For some years the process of globalization has been creating a standardization in the consumption and the behaviour of individuals, to the detriment of local identities. The imposition of external models has led to the subsequent abandonment of certain traditional and cultural values in many regions of the world.

The concentration of the population in cities has increased while areas in the interior have lost their value, especially their economic worth. These territories have progressively gone from being functional to the economy of urban areas (primary sector) to becoming indifferent containers of inconvenient functions or ”something else”.

The loss of values, practices and customs has led to the abandonment of buildings, scattered here and there or concentrated in one place, under-used or unused, some of which are of undeniable historical and architectural value.

Today this cultural heritage can lead to the development of new types of tourism, which can re-launch the inland areas, through the re-discovery of their authenticity and local identity. Today’s tourists reveal a need to establish human relationships to counterbalance the isolation of the anonymity of big cities. In this way, in the silence of the ”vast territory in the interior“ human relationships between residing population and travellers are assuming, if adequately directed, an increasingly important role in tourism.

Today’s tourists prefer “to be” rather than “to have”, and therefore they want to become part of the daily life of the places they visit, and want their journey to be a source of knowledge and leisure. The tourist reclaims the old function of journey, intent on widening his knowledge of the surrounding territory, while respecting the social and cultural equality of other populations.

Tourist seem less interested in the traditional sites of mass tourism, which has damaged local identities. More and more tourists prefer less known sites and inland areas where outside influences have had little influence on local culture and folklore.

The Mediterranean area is experiencing this change and with its culture lends itself to the realization of the Integrated Relational Tourism (IRT), a theory which intends to overcome the traditional concept of tourist demand and supply limited to the field of economic competition.

IRT promotes a network of activities and services, based on shared qualitative criteria for the valorization and the creation of synergies of the resources of the territory, establishing a satisfactory relationship with the inhabitants and the areas visited.

IRT pertains to a particular economic area in which demand and supply meet through a balanced, combined management of interpersonal relations.

IRT proposes the territorial development of the Mediterranean while respecting the cultural and environmental sustainability and attempts to limit the economic divergences between the interior and coastal areas, which are usually more developed. IRT attempts to restore rural architecture, by contributing to the environmental quality - often damaged by the presence of abandoned and unprotected buildings - and activities related to the primary sector. IRT can be realized through an active participation of all the key players of local development such as government offices, businesses and local communities.

The Conference by a multy-disciplinary approach to tourism, aims to give prominence to the awakened territory, whose three main challenges are a territorial re-alignment of the economies, a re-assessment of the cultural identity and a recomposition of social groups.