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NDTV
13 hours ago
- Business
- NDTV
The $30 Million Plan To Overhaul Tourism Around Egypt's Pyramids
Some 2.5 million people visit the Pyramids of Giza each year with hopes of an epic experience befitting one of the World's Seven Wonders. But for decades, a trip to Egypt's most famous tourist spot meant battling crowds and parrying aggressive hawkers. Now, thanks to a $30 million revamp that rethinks the experience, seeing the pyramids is finally inspiring more awe than agony. A network of buses whisks visitors around the site, the hard-sells have been tamed - and you can even enjoy some fine dining overlooking the 4,600-year-old monuments. All this officially debuts on July 3 - a milestone seven years in the making. In 2018, the Egyptian government signed a public-private partnership deal with Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris' Orascom Pyramids Entertainment to overhaul the Giza Plateau, the area west of Cairo on which the ancient structures sit. A soft launch began in early April, allowing OPE to make improvements and address shortcomings ahead of a wider reveal, OPE Executive Chairman Amr Gazarin said in an interview. The firm will operate the location for the next 11 years, drawing revenue not from ticket sales - which the government is solely entitled to - but from VIP tours, sponsorship deals and commercial leases on the grounds. The opening date coincides with the long-awaited inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum - the $1 billion flagship attraction sitting about a mile away. Taken together, the two projects represent some of the biggest strides yet in Egypt's goal of doubling annual visitors to 30 million within a decade. It's a target that would put it roughly on par with Greece, making it one of the most-visited countries in the world. New Gate, New Rules One of the key changes was to make the Giza Plateau car-free. Instead of driving up a winding road in the shadow of the Great Pyramid, visitors now enter via a gate on a highway 1.5 miles to the southwest. After passing through the so-called Great Gate and buying tickets, visitors navigate a gleaming hall of introductory exhibits before boarding new hop-on, hop-off buses. Within minutes, they can be dropped off at the feet of the three colossal pyramids, each built from 80-ton limestone blocks. The iconic Great Sphinx lies further below. At bus stops around the site they'll find facilities that were long-lacking, including upgraded restrooms, formal souvenir stores and cafes. And, with the opening of several eateries in recent years, you can finally order a meal on-site. Khufu's, which serves up a deluxe twist on Egyptian staples and has a terrace overlooking the pyramid built for the pharaoh of the same name, has been ranked one of the Middle East and North Africa's top restaurants by World's 50 Best. "It wasn't a good experience before, for sure," said Mariam Al-Gohary, 37, an Egyptian-Canadian citizen who visited the pyramids in mid-May for the first time in 15 years. "Now it's like going to the museum," said Al-Gohary, who works in human resources in Calgary, Alberta. "It looks like what you would expect a big tourist destination." Visitor numbers were up almost 24% in April compared to the year before, according to the Tourism Ministry. Egypt's tourist sector is already on a tear and saw record arrivals in the opening months of 2025, though, so it's unclear how much the project itself drove the increase. Tackling Horsemen OPE's Gazarin says Egyptian authorities are also helping the company tackle a critical issue: hawkers offering horse and camel rides. They've long been accused of being aggressive and overcharging as they literally and figuratively take tourists for a ride. Al-Gohary from Calgary recalled that when she and her friend rode camels in 2010, the owner demanded extra money to have the animals kneel so they could dismount from them - an infamous ploy. She avoided them altogether on this year's visit. For first-time visitors, it's now easier to avoid getting swept up by the scams. The new setup has denied horsemen and hawkers the access they had to the old entrance, where they were accused of accosting tourists. Authorities have allocated horsemen a separate and relatively isolated area, but many have been defiant and pushed for positions closer to the pyramids. It's a work in progress, says Gazarin, who expects Egyptian authorities to gradually tighten the limits to better ensure enforcement. "People were afraid to go to the pyramids" because of the issue, he said. He rues the fact the pyramids draw just 2.5 million visitors a year - half of them Egyptian. By comparison, over 12 million went to the Colosseum in Rome in 2023. But Gazarin knows it will take time to build up those numbers, especially in the face of regional conflicts that create some amount of local unpredictability. What matters, he says, is that the numbers trend upwards. "It's unacceptable the world's most important monument attracts just above one million foreigners."
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
The $30 Million Plan to Overhaul Tourism Around Egypt's Pyramids
(Bloomberg) -- Some 2.5 million people visit the Pyramids of Giza each year with hopes of an epic experience befitting one of the World's Seven Wonders. But for decades, a trip to Egypt's most famous tourist spot meant battling crowds and parrying aggressive hawkers. Now, thanks to a $30 million revamp that rethinks the experience, seeing the pyramids is finally inspiring more awe than agony. A network of buses whisks visitors around the site, the hard-sells have been tamed — and you can even enjoy some fine dining overlooking the 4,600-year-old monuments. All this officially debuts on July 3 — a milestone seven years in the making. In 2018, the Egyptian government signed a public-private partnership deal with Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris' Orascom Pyramids Entertainment to overhaul the Giza Plateau, the area west of Cairo on which the ancient structures sit. A soft launch began in early April, allowing OPE to make improvements and address shortcomings ahead of a wider reveal, OPE Executive Chairman Amr Gazarin said in an interview. The firm will operate the location for the next 11 years, drawing revenue not from ticket sales — which the government is solely entitled to — but from VIP tours, sponsorship deals and commercial leases on the grounds. The opening date coincides with the long-awaited inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum — the $1 billion flagship attraction sitting about a mile away. Taken together, the two projects represent some of the biggest strides yet in Egypt's goal of doubling annual visitors to 30 million within a decade. It's a target that would put it roughly on par with Greece, making it one of the most-visited countries in the world. One of the key changes was to make the Giza Plateau car-free. Instead of driving up a winding road in the shadow of the Great Pyramid, visitors now enter via a gate on a highway 1.5 miles to the southwest. After passing through the so-called Great Gate and buying tickets, visitors navigate a gleaming hall of introductory exhibits before boarding new hop-on, hop-off buses. Within minutes, they can be dropped off at the feet of the three colossal pyramids, each built from 80-ton limestone blocks. The iconic Great Sphinx lies further below. At bus stops around the site they'll find facilities that were long-lacking, including upgraded restrooms, formal souvenir stores and cafes. And, with the opening of several eateries in recent years, you can finally order a meal on-site. Khufu's, which serves up a deluxe twist on Egyptian staples and has a terrace overlooking the pyramid built for the pharaoh of the same name, has been ranked one of the Middle East and North Africa's top restaurants by World's 50 Best. 'It wasn't a good experience before, for sure,' said Mariam Al-Gohary, 37, an Egyptian-Canadian citizen who visited the pyramids in mid-May for the first time in 15 years. 'Now it's like going to the museum,' said Al-Gohary, who works in human resources in Calgary, Alberta. 'It looks like what you would expect a big tourist destination.' Visitor numbers were up almost 24% in April compared to the year before, according to the Tourism Ministry. Egypt's tourist sector is already on a tear and saw record arrivals in the opening months of 2025, though, so it's unclear how much the project itself drove the increase. OPE's Gazarin says Egyptian authorities are also helping the company tackle a critical issue: hawkers offering horse and camel rides. They've long been accused of being aggressive and overcharging as they literally and figuratively take tourists for a ride. Al-Gohary from Calgary recalled that when she and her friend rode camels in 2010, the owner demanded extra money to have the animals kneel so they could dismount from them – an infamous ploy. She avoided them altogether on this year's visit. For first-time visitors, it's now easier to avoid getting swept up by the scams. The new setup has denied horsemen and hawkers the access they had to the old entrance, where they were accused of accosting tourists. Authorities have allocated horsemen a separate and relatively isolated area, but many have been defiant and pushed for positions closer to the pyramids. It's a work in progress, says Gazarin, who expects Egyptian authorities to gradually tighten the limits to better ensure enforcement. 'People were afraid to go to the pyramids' because of the issue, he said. He rues the fact the pyramids draw just 2.5 million visitors a year — half of them Egyptian. By comparison, over 12 million went to the Colosseum in Rome in 2023. But Gazarin knows it will take time to build up those numbers, especially in the face of regional conflicts that create some amount of local unpredictability. What matters, he says, is that the numbers trend upwards. 'It's unacceptable the world's most important monument attracts just above one million foreigners.' --With assistance from Abdel Latif Wahba and Victoria Cagol. More stories like this are available on
Al-Ahram Weekly
09-04-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Pyramids' new entrance trial faces backlash despite record number of visitors - Tourism
The trial opening of the new entrance to the Giza Plateau's newly developed area faced a backlash despite the record number of visitors flocking. The difficulties have been attributed to the inadequacy of new transportation and protests from traditional horse and camel owners. Horse and camel owners, traditionally providing rides to tourists, gathered near a newly designated road entrance to the area, blocking tourist buses and chanting against the development due to concerns about their livelihoods. The project—a collaboration between the Egyptian government and the privately owned Orascom Pyramids Entertainment (OPE)—has closed the traditional direct entrance to the Pyramids near the Marriott Mena House. Instead, a new organised entrance has been established on the Fayoum Highway, south of the Giza Pyramids, to alleviate congestion and pollution concerns. Under the new system, private cars and tourist buses are barred from entering the site, with eco-friendly electric vehicles now providing transportation within the area. Additionally, horse and camel owners—who previously operated independently—were relocated to other areas to organise camel and horse riding for visitors without interfering with main transportation routes. However, several visitors and tourist guides took to social media to express their dissatisfaction, sharing chaotic scenes depicting visitors struggling to access the site amid the "insufficient number of electric vehicles". The OPE, responsible for operating electric vehicles within the area, stated that the initial hours of the trial operation were smooth, with a record 13,800 visitors between 7:00 am and 11:00 am on Tuesday. In a statement, the company went on to say that problems began at 11:00 am after the number of visitors started to increase significantly and after horse and camel owners blocked the road at several locations without what they described as "decisive intervention from security authorities." The company blamed the protesters for disrupting transportation in the area, accusing them of threatening to hurt the company's employees and damage its buses. Despite the setbacks, OPE affirmed its commitment to the trial operation with the government to identify problems and gather feedback for practical solutions. It added that it has presented a proposal to allow tourism companies to use their own electric buses within the plateau to help facilitate transportation. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities issued a statement saying the area saw 12,000 visitors on Tuesday, representing a 120 percent increase over the area's average daily visitor numbers. The ministry attributed the disruption in transportation in the area to the failure of some horsemen and camel owners "to adhere to designated parking zones," which led to delays in the arrival of buses transporting visitors between the various visitation routes in the area at the specified times." In contrast to OEP's statement, the Ministry of Tourism stressed that the animal owners were swiftly returned to their designated locations and bus traffic resumed smoothly. It added that the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, directed that the number of tourist buses operating in the area be increased to address the problem. Despite its commitment to a long-term plan to introduce electric buses, the ministry said Fathy approved the immediate deployment of additional diesel buses to ease transportation. Furthermore, the ministry affirmed that it was committed to closely monitoring the trial operation to ensure a smooth and efficient experience for all visitors as the new system is fully implemented. The Great Pyramid of Giza, the last surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, is a powerful symbol of Egypt's heritage and a cornerstone of its tourism industry, one of the country's primary sources of foreign currency. The Egyptian government has developed a national tourism strategy to boost the sector to attract 30 million visitors by 2028. In 2024, Egypt welcomed 15.7 million tourists and generated $14.1 billion in total revenue, exceeding the previous record of 14.9 million visitors set in 2023. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
