This report was prepared under the auspices of the partnership between USAID and the Government of Egypt to develop revenue generation and funding mechanisms for the Northern Zone of the Red Sea Marine Protectorates (RSMP). This paper is a synthesis of several previous studies, resulting in a draft proposal with a fully explained set of options for expanding the existing fee system and alternative mechanisms for complementing it or replacing it with a potentially more effective system, including some options that go beyond the Northern Zone. The paper supports this with technical details in chapters on the following topics:
1) the context of rapidly growing tourism development along the Red Sea coast;
2) estimates of current diving and snorkeling visitation rates and revenues;
3) a budget target for future revenue needs;
4) a review of international experience with marine park fee systems and apparent willingness to pay among the Egyptian tourism sector;
5) a preliminary feasibility assessment of sixteen potential revenue mechanism types;
6) estimates of the amounts of revenue that could potentially be achieved by each of the three major options emerging from the pre-feasibility review.
