Hurghada City Research Articles

Bio-monitoring of coral reef health based on benthic foraminifera in Makadi Lagoon, Hurghada, Red Sea Coast, Egypt: Application of the standard FoRAM index

The Red Sea Coast near Hurghada City is under continuous development in the tourism sector because of its natural heritage of corals reefs. This region is one of the favorite destinations of leisure tourism throughout the world. These activities lead to high environmental stress that affects the water quality and growth of coral reefs. The Foraminifera in Reef Assessment and Monitoring index (FoRAM Index) is one of the cost effective and fast results methods of bio-monitoring. The FoRAM Index is applied in the Makadi and Ras Disha Bays near to Hurghada. Topographic analysis shows that the tourist facilities are concentrated at the outlet of the low gradient valleys especially at Makadi bay. The FoRAM Index is supported with a statistical analysis of the foraminiferal association that resulted in the identification of three microtypes. These microtypes are stress tolerant rich Microtype 1, heterotrophic foraminifera rich Microtype 2 and symbionts-bearing foraminifera Microtype 3. The foraminiferal population pattern in these microtypes is similar to the groupings of the FoRAM Index. The values of the FoRAM Index range between 3.8 and 6.8 and these values reflect healthy water that supports the growth of coral reefs. However, a degradation gradient occurs in Makadi Bay indicating the impact of concentrated tourism activity on the water quality. The values observed in Ras Disha Bay can be considered as background for spatial and future studies. The FoRAM Index is a highly recommended application for economic and rapid bio-monitoring. The results are valuable for stakeholders planning for sustainable development and management of ecotourism.

Evaluation of the environmental and structural impacts on urban expansion using airborne geophysical data at Hurghada city, Northern Eastern Desert, Egypt.

Airborne gamma-ray spectrometric and magnetic data were processed and interpreted aiming to evaluate the environmental and structural impacts on urban expansion, Hurghada City, Northern Eastern Desert, Egypt. The eastern (coastal area), northern, and southeastern parts of the study area possess the lowest level of absorbed dose rate (ADR) and annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), which were estimated from the airborne gamma-ray spectral data of this area. Consequently, these parts are considered as suitable sites for urban expansion from the radioactivity point of view. The relatively high level of ADR and AEDE is associated with granitic rocks, some parts of Gabir formation and recent Wadi sediments, situated at southwestern, central, and eastern parts of the study area. The ADR and AEDE of these parts are considered harmful to individuals. Airborne magnetic data were also used to detect major structures that may affect various construction projects in the study area in the future. The NNW-SSE, NW-SE, N-S, and NE-SW trends represent the common structures in the study area. The obtained results of airborne gamma-ray spectrometric and magnetic data illustrated that the urban expansion should not be constructed to the west of the ring road. However, site investigations must be carried out on this part of the study area before starting any construction projects there. The present study proved the important role of airborne gamma-ray spectrometric and magnetic surveys as useful tools to delineate the environmental and structural impacts on urban expansion.

The Effect of Food and Beverage Innovations and Trends on Guest Satisfaction in Hurghada City, Five-Star Resorts

The Effect of Food and Beverage Innovations and Trends on Guest Satisfaction in Hurghada City, Five-Star Resorts

Implementing a transformative approach to the coral reefs' recovery phase

Mitigation and rehabilitation are responses to climate change and human misuse. However, many regions worldwide still lose coral reefs even after implementing these responses. We chose Hurghada city, on the Red Sea, and Weizhou island, on the South China Sea, as sample regions to assess their various modes of coral community structure loss against the combined climatic and human impact drivers that led to this shift. Despite the former being considered a regional coral refuge, while the latter was limited, both regions have previously intervened with coral restoration. We found that even after three decades of impact cessation by forcing laws, most coral reef states are still declining (about a third and a half in both cities), have not harnessed the existing crowded larval density, and are unrecovered. Such findings imply that the combined impacts will persist, necessitating a broad connectivity analysis that enables a suitable intervention (hybrid solutions hypothesis).Each state of coral categories was connected to certain combined stressor factors using our broad connectivity analysis to grasp the extent and relative contribution of coral community shift since our data obtained from comparable sites were widely varied. Moreover, destructive emerged changes have transformed the coral community structure under the forced adaptation scenario of the community structure, boosting those who can resist at the expense of others.To prove our hypothesis, we used the connectivity findings in determining the optimal technique and spots for coral rehabilitation around the two cities. We then compared our findings with the outcomes of two other existing adjacent restoration projects related to other endeavors. Our hybrid approach harvested coral larvae that had been wasted in both cities. Thus, hybrid solutions are globally required for such cases, and proper early interventions are needed to maintain the genotype power to boost coral adaptability throw global ecological settings.

Thermal Comfort Strategies for the City of Hurghada

Climatic data analysis aims at deciphering the different environmentalfactors that architects face when designing a building at a certain location.However, these factors can be magnified or diminished by other natural settingssuch as topography and surrounding landscape. In this work, the differentenvironmental and natural factors affecting the city of Hurghada are analyzed andvarious design strategies are evaluated, with the aim of obtaining the most efficientdesign strategies for achieving thermal comfort. The resulting strategies can beused by architects and decision-makers when assessing the different buildingdesign options for future development projects in the city of Hurghada.

Bio-accumulation and health risk assessment of heavy metals in different edible fish species from Hurghada City, Red Sea, Egypt

BackgroundHeavy metal contamination has become a serious issue in this century especially detected in fish organs. Due to the presence of radioactive compounds in agricultural and sewage effluent, which destroys aquatic ecosystems, threatening human livelihoods. Health hazards associated with low and high consumption consumers assessed in five commercial fish species collected from Hurghada City, Egypt, during winter and summer, 2020. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer technique used for determination heavy meals in different organs and expressed as μg/g wet weight. ResultsHeavy metal concentrations in muscle ranged between:(0.054–0.109), (0.260–1.043), (0.264–0.897), (5.895–11.898), (0.381–0.970), (13.582–29.133) and (0.332–0.589) µg/g for Cd, Pb, Mn, Zn, Cu, Fe and Ni respectively, which were lower than those of gills and liver. These concentrations were within WHO, FAO/WHO, and EU standards. Consumption of edible species was lower than the (TDIs) established by the (JECFA) and Egyptian Standards. Even though THQ and TTHQ values were < 1 while, in children with highly consumer were> 1. ConclusionThis study concluded that intake of Red Sea fish is safe for human health. It is critical for consumers to be aware of the consequences of excessive fish consumption, particularly children with highly consumer, which represent possible health risks.

A Comparison Analysis between Soft and Ultra All-Inclusive Accommodation Systems and its Impact on Hotels’ Costs - and Profitability in Hurghada City

This research aims to compare between Soft and Ultra All-Inclusive accommodation systems and analyze their impact on hotels’ Costs and profitability in Hurghada city. For achieving the research aim, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to a random sample of managers in the investigated hotels, of which 200 responses were valid to analyze by SPSS V.25. Results indicated that the All-Inclusive system has an impact on the hotels' costs and profitability, and there are differences among the sample responses of the study toward reasons of implementation, and the impact of the hotels' costs and profitability according to the type of All-Inclusive system (AIS) applied. Based on the results, some recommendations have been proposed to minimize the negative effect of AIS on hotels’ costs. One of the most important recommendations is creating non-costly facilities by adopting a recreational inclusive system that includes adding some tours to ultra AIS package that enhance guests' preoccupation and maximize hotel's profitability.

Environmental Assessment of climatic performance of coastal cities as a mechanism to achieve sustainable development: Hurghada city

Egypt faces many environmental problems. The increase in the urban population has led to an increase in the number of housing units, which changes the urban climate, or what is known as the phenomenon of the thermal urban thermal island, which is one of the biggest urban environmental problems facing the world in recent times and what followed from the steady consumption of energy, pollution and shortage resources and lack of quality of life. Hence the role of environmental sustainability and what it offers as solutions to some of these problems. Since the wind element is one of the important elements in improving the efficiency and quality of the built environment, reducing energy and thermal comfort. The main objective of the research is to focus on the importance of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation programs in improving the efficiency of urban settlement performance by studying natural ventilation for human health and thermal comfort, especially in the coastal communities that suffer from thermal comfort problems as an aid to planners And architects in urban planning and design to reach planning and design decisions and strategies in line with environmental sustainability standards. To achieve the main objective of the research, the importance of simulation programs was addressed to reach procedures and recommendations prepared to achieve sustainability and thermal comfort, the CFD model and related software treatments were applied and integrated as a small-scale wind assessment system through a number of stages, including program inputs from climatic elements and urban formation to be evaluated With the aim of guiding decision makers when designing and planning any urban assembly in order to achieve sustainable urban development.

Performance evaluation of a solar absorption air conditioning system under arid climatic conditions

The main objective of the present work is to evaluate the performance of a solar absorption air conditioning system for a supermarket under arid climatic conditions (e.g., Hurghada city (27.26 oN, 33.81 oE), Egypt). To achieve this objective, TRNSYS software as a simulation tool based on the mass and energy conservation equations is used. Model validation showed that an acceptable agreement between the simulated and actual results with an overall annual error 8.4%. Reported results indicated that the annual cooling load and maximum instantaneous cooling load are 463 Wh/m 2and 173 W/m2. Also, the results revealed that solar collector area of 900 m 2, storage tank volume of 25 m3 and collector flow rate 5 kg/h.m2 with annual solar fraction of 0.52 are required.

Developing different hybrid renewable sources of residential loads as a reliable method to realize energy sustainability

Hurghada city is a region in Egypt that has suitable potential for supplying energy by hybrid renewable sources. A combination of four different hybrid renewable sources of solar photovoltaics (SPV), wind turbines, diesel engines, and storage batteries is considered for residential systems. The simulation results, optimization, and modeling procedures are completed with the use of HOMER software. From the technical and economic assessment, the SPV-wind-diesel-battery source has a minimum value of the cost of the energy annually 0.275$/kWh and the SPV-diesel source has a higher value of the cost of the energy with 0.36 $/kWh. Moreover, from the environmental assessment, the SPV-wind source has a low pollution rate with zero percentage value. The obtained results indicated that the longterm planning of renewable resources is appropriate for this town.

Study the compatibility of land uses surrounding international Airports (Case Study: Hurghada International Airport)

This paper presents a framework and analytical studies to evaluate the impacts of airport locations on the surrounding urban area and land uses. This work is based on reviewing the impacts of some international airports on land uses and compared them with those of Hurghada International Airport in Egypt. The description of land use surrounding Hurghada International Airport was obtained from the general strategic plan for Hurghada City in 2015-2027, prepared by the General Authority for Urban Planning (GAUP). Compatibility factors that were used for evaluating the development of land use around airports are generally presented, as well as the criteria of these factors. Two main compatibility factors were applied, namely noise and safety, but the safety factor was applied only from a land-use point of view. The results of the present study indicated that some land uses are incompatible with the noise factor as well as other uses are incompatible with the safety factor in terms of the type of land use. For unused areas, the permitted and prohibited uses are mentioned relative to the location of each area within its safety zone.

Assessing Tourism Services Quality and Its Effect on Egyptians Tourists Satisfaction in Hurghada

In the world of business, customers are crucial. Companies must keep satisfying their customers to improve profitability and market share to survive in the competition. Companies need to find what their customers need, what they want, and what they value. Service quality has been the topic of many research studies during the last decades. In recent decades, authors found that the quality of services has a significant influence on customer satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of tourism service quality presented by travel agencies and its influence on tourist's satisfaction in Hurghada city. To achieve the aim of the research, quantitative approach based on a questionnaire was developed and directed to a sample of Egyptians tourists. The questionnaire was handled to 650 Egyptians tourists. Out of this number, 578 forms were available for analysis representing 88.9% response rate. The research indicated that Egyptians tourists are satisfied with accommodation and catering services quality then optional tours services quality. But they less satisfied with the arrival and departure times. After discussing the findings of the research, the research pointed to a conclusion and recommendation with respect to assess the tourism services quality in Hurghada city.

EVALUATING THE USE OF THE MULTILOCUS GENETIC MARKER “5S RDNA” FOR THE DISCRIMINATION OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF FAMILY LETHRINIDAE IN RED SEA, EGYPT

Family Lethrinidae (Sho´our fishes, Shaari fishes) is one of the key families in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean fisheries. Some of its species were recorded in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of species as endangered. In order to develop simple genetic marker that aid their rapid identification, fin clips of four lethrinid species were collected from local fish markets in Hurghada city. These species were Lethrinus lentjan, L. harak, L. microdon, and L. mahsena. DNA was extracted from these samples and subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification for the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and the nuclear 5S rRNA genes. The 12S rRNA PCR amplicons were sequenced. GenBank comparison and phylogenetic analysis for the 12S rRNA gene sequences resulted in clear identification for the sampled species. Meanwhile, a simple, 2% agarose gel electrophoresis for the 5S rDNA ran in a low voltage for 2 hours resulted in variable intraspecific patterns. These patterns appeared as 3 PCR bands of approximately 500 base pair (bp) in length for L. lentjan; 2 PCR bands at 500 and 400 bp for L. harak; single PCR band at 500 bp for L. microdon; and 3 bands at about 750, 500, and 400 bp for L. mahsena. Band separation was clear enough. 5S rDNA exhibited an accurate, interspecific, and easy-to-use genetic marker for identification of different lethrinid species covered by the current study.

EVALUATING THE USE OF THE MULTILOCUS GENETIC MARKER “5S RDNA” FOR THE DISCRIMINATION OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF FAMILY LETHRINIDAE IN RED SEA, EGYPT

Family Lethrinidae (Sho´our fishes, Shaari fishes) is one of the key families in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean fisheries. Some of its species were recorded in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of species as endangered. In order to develop simple genetic marker that aid their rapid identification, fin clips of four lethrinid species were collected from local fish markets in Hurghada city. These species were Lethrinus lentjan, L. harak, L. microdon, and L. mahsena. DNA was extracted from these samples and subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification for the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and the nuclear 5S rRNA genes. The 12S rRNA PCR amplicons were sequenced. GenBank comparison and phylogenetic analysis for the 12S rRNA gene sequences resulted in clear identification for the sampled species. Meanwhile, a simple, 2% agarose gel electrophoresis for the 5S rDNA ran in a low voltage for 2 hours resulted in variable intraspecific patterns. These patterns appeared as 3 PCR bands of approximately 500 base pair (bp) in length for L. lentjan; 2 PCR bands at 500 and 400 bp for L. harak; single PCR band at 500 bp for L. microdon; and 3 bands at about 750, 500, and 400 bp for L. mahsena. Band separation was clear enough. 5S rDNA exhibited an accurate, interspecific, and easy-to-use genetic marker for identification of different lethrinid species covered by the current study.

Travel agent’s category (A) tour leader’s behavior in selling excursions and its effect on tourist’s loyalty and repeat the visit with same travel agent: A case study Travel agents’ category (A) in Hurghada city

The tourism industry and its various activities, such as optional trips, is one of the most important sources of income, as it is also an important source of commissions for workers in the tourism companies' sector, category (A) of sales commissions for the excursion. Reference to the internal and external competitions that the Egyptian market is going through. There is no doubt that the excursion plays an essential role in the competition between companies, so the sales departments are putting pressure on the tour leaders to achieve the highest possible profit from the excursion's sales. This sometimes leads to the use of some pressure on tourists by the group leaders, leading to the tourists' dissatisfaction or unwillingness to deal with the company again. Here comes the importance of this study to clarify the tour leader's behavior and determine the extent of the tourist's satisfaction from disloyalty and repeat the experience with The same company, which leads to a great loss for the company. Therefore, it became clear through the study that some of the group leader's wrong behaviors follow in selling excursions with tourists, the most important of which is providing inaccurate information about the trip and giving false promises. Therefore, the study recommends the necessity to emphasize the selection of the leaders of the tour groups and their evaluation and training them well on the skills of presentation and negotiation Selling and how to communicate the information clearly, analyses the comments of tourists, and solve their problems, which in turn enables the company to maintain the loyalty of its customers and repeat the visit and recommend to others.

NEW HOST RECORD OF ECHINOCEPHALUS OVERSTREETI DEARDORFF AND KO (1983) (NEMATODA: GNATHOSTOMATIDAE) FROM THE COMMON SEA BREAM PAGRUS PAGRUS (SPARIDAE) OF THE RED SEA IN EGYPT

Several nematode species of family Gnathostomatidae are considered as fish-borne zoonotic parasites, although feral dogs and cats are the commonly identified definitive hosts of these species, humans may accidentally be part of the life cycle of these nematodes by eating undercooked fish infected by the fourth larval stages (L4). In the present study, thirtyfive fish specimens of the common sea bream Pagrus pagrus (Sparidae) were collected from a location along the Red Sea at Hurghada city, Cairo, Egypt. Twenty two fish were infected by the nematode parasite Echinocephalus overstreeti (family: Gnathostomatidae) isolated from the peritoneal cavity of infected fish attached externally to host viscera. Afterisolation and fixation, worms were examined by light and scanning electron microscopes. Morphologically, parasite possessed most of the features characterizing of Gnathostomatidae members. Body long with very narrow lateral alae, simple pseudolabia, 2 well-developed papillae and amphid, a cephalic bulb armed with six transverse rows of claw-shaped spines and a conical pointed tail equipped with anus.

ENTOMOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF AEDES AEGYPTI AND ARBOVIRUSES OUTBREAK OF DENGUE FEVER IN THE RED SEA GOVERNORATE, EGYPT

Red sea Governorate coordinates: N 25o 32' 1'', E 33o 26' 18'' and one of the borders Governorates. The Red Sea Coast length of 1080 km, from the Gulf of Suez, latitude 29 north, to the border of Sudan on latitude 22 north with about 306,000 living in area of about 203,685km2(January 2018), and it is divided into seven cities include Hurghada (capital), Safaga, Al-Kuseer, Ras Ghareb, Marsa Alam, Shalatin, Halaib. Four Cities Hurghada, Safaga, Al-Kuseer, Ras Ghareb were selected for entomological surveys where dengue fever was anticipated to be occurred at November 2017. A total number of 469 houses were participates survived, positive adult houses were 20.47% (96/469), while positive larvae houses were 10.23 % (48/469). The stogmoyia indices for the parameters of house index (HI), container index (CI) and Breteau index (BI) were (10.2, 7.0 &16) respectively. The survey yielded a total number of immature stages of Aedes aegypti of 92.22% (960/1041), or 92.5 % (888/960) for larvae and 7.5% (72/960) for pupa. The immature stages of other species were recorded 7.78% (81/1041), Aedes detritus, Culex pipiens, Cx. antennatus and Cx. perexiguus and represented 86.42% (70/81) for larvae and 13.58% (11/81) for pupa. Adults Ae. aegypti were 20.36% (90/442), but adult mosquito of other species were 79.64% (352/442). Adults Ae. aegypti at Hurghada showed resistant to deltamethrin, cyflothrin and bendiocarb, and suggested resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin, but they were susceptible to malathion. At Safaga City showed resistant for bendiocarb and susceptible to cyflothrin. Larvae of Aedes aegypti at Hurghada City showed resistant to chlorpyrifos, but susceptible to temephos. Also, at Safaga City showed susceptible to temephos insecticide.

First record of Pseudoterranova decipiens (Nematoda, Anisakidae) infecting the Red spot emperor Lethrinus lentjan in the Red Sea.

The current parasitological study was carried out to investigate helminth parasites infecting the Red spot emperor Lethrinus lentjan inhabiting Hurghada City at the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, Egypt. Third-stage larvae of nematode parasite was isolated from the intestine as well as body cavity of the examined fish. Light and scanning electron microscopy revealed that this parasite belonged to Anisakidae family within the genus Pseudoterranova. The present species is named Pseudoterranova decipiens based on the presence of triangular mouth aperture with prominent boring teeth and soft swellings of the cuticle, long muscular esophagus, ventrally excretory pore, and narrow transverse slit of anal opening followed by a short mucron. The morphological characteristics of this species were confirmed by molecular analysis of 18S rDNA gene region of the present parasite. It demonstrated a close identity ≥89% with taxa under family Anisakidae, 85% with Raphidascarididae, and 79-84% with Toxocaridae. A preliminary genetic comparison between gene sequence of the present parasite and other oxyurid species placeed it as a putative sister taxon to other Pseudoterranova decipiens described previously. This study demonstrated that the 18S rDNA gene region of Pseudoterranova decipiens yielded a unique sequence that confirmed its taxonomic position in Anisakidae.

Assessment of Natural Radionuclides and Heavy Metal Concentrations in Marine Sediments in View of Tourism Activities in Hurghada City, Northern Red Sea, Egypt

Assessment of Natural Radionuclides and Heavy Metal Concentrations in Marine Sediments in View of Tourism Activities in Hurghada City, Northern Red Sea, Egypt

The Effects of Administrative Empowerment on Employees Job Satisfaction in Five-star Resorts in Hurghada City

Administrative empowerment is a critical process for the employees, as it is a contemporary concept that leads the employee to achieve high levels of collaboration, teamwork, self-confidence, creativity, independent thinking and entrepreneurship. In general, the hotel managers play an important role in empowering their employees by giving them the information and responsibilities of the work, as well as, providing an atmosphere of trust between the management levels that help employees in decision-making. Additionally, administrative empowerment gives employees more flexibility and empowerment that help them to improve their performance and loyalty to the work. The study aims to identify the extent of the implementation of administrative empowerment of the employees in five-star resorts in Hurghada City, and its impact on job satisfaction. The study sample consists of employees of the five-star resorts in Hurghada City. This research is applied in 23 resorts of Hurghada City in Egypt. It adopts a quantitative approach for achieving its aims and desired objectives. A convenient sample was selected consisting of 500 hotel staff with an average of 72.4% response rate. A questionnaire is used for collecting data which is later analysed using SPSS version 24. The results indicate that administrative empowerment and its dimensions have a positive effect on job satisfaction. According to the results, the study proves that there is a strong correlation between administrative empowerment and employee's satisfaction in the five-star resorts in Hurghada City. It also recommends that hotel resorts empower and strengthen their employees by trusting in them, giving them the authority to carry out their tasks without consulting the administration, encouraging teamwork and providing them with appropriate training programs as well as communication channels for contacting with senior management. This study contributes to identifying the concept of administrative empowerment, its importance and dimensions as well as enriching the studies on the relation between administrative empowerment and its impact on job satisfaction. However, there is a lack of studies that show the effect of administrative empowerment on job satisfaction in the resorts in Egypt, especially in Hurghada resorts.