In Egypt, tourism has never been just an economic sector: it is an identity, collective imagination, with that millennial promise of golden sand, sculpted stone and mystery. But in recent years, something has changed and the pyramids, which have always been the eternal symbol of a civilization that has shaped history, today they struggle to hold the weight of mass tourism.
In only 2024, almost 17.5 million tourists crossed the country. Important numbers, which feed a sector that in 2023 engraved on the country’s GDP for over 31 billion dollars according to Statestista.com, with an increase of about 17 billion compared to 2020. The government’s goal is ambitious: reaching 30 million visitors by 2030. Now, the question that many ask themselves is if Egypt is really ready to welcome them without self -adjusting.
The problem of the pyramids
On the plateau of Giza, where the large sphinx and the most famous pyramids arise, chaos has become the norm. Tourist bus, improvised guides, insistent sellers, horses and camels that make their way between the crowd. A human labyrinth that has little to do with the silence and respect that those places would deserve.
Many travelers were disappointed, and someone has poured their frustration on social media. There is also among them The South African influencer Kurt Cazwho in a Viral video told his experience in Giza. “Avoid all these scammers,” he said, while showing the continuous attempts to approach rather intrusive sellers. “When they see that they don’t buy anything, they become aggressive,” he explained. A story that has found Eco among thousands of users. In the comments, there are those who write that now more the scammers are filmed than the pyramids.
@kurtcaz Avoid Egyptian Pyramid Scammers!
#scam #egypt #scammer #pyramids #gizapyramids #kurtcaz
♬ Original Sound – Kurt Caz – Kurt Caz
Here then is the paradox: the place that should enchant, educate, elevate, ends up rejecting, certainly not because of the millenary stones, but for what revolves around it. And for years, nobody really put his hand to this problem.
The government’s move
Something is moving. The Egyptian government has launched a renovation and redevelopment project of the area, entrusting its management at Orascom Pyramids Entertainment Services Company. There is talk of a investment of 51 million dollarswhich includes, among other things, a new access point on the Fayoum Highway. The goal is to reduce road congestion and improve reception.
It must be said that the plan did not start in the best way. Some local operators, in particular those who offer horse and camel excursions, have protested vehemently. The fear is that the new parking areas for animals and tourists are too far from the entrance, thus damaging their turnover. So they blocked access to the vehicles, they raised their voices, and meanwhile visitors, already disoriented, found themselves in the midst of a conflict that hardly manage to understand completely.
Problem mistreatment, the government tries to respond
To further complicate the situation, there is the question of animal abuse, a thorny node, raised several times by the organizations for animal rights. For example, Peta Asia denounced that Many camels, after years of tourist exploitation, are postponed to the market to be demolished. The images spread by the association are hard: horses and camels left without food, hit with whisk or sticks, exhausted by the heat and weight.
The authority of the authorities came: a animal welfare program It was started in the main tourist areas, including Giza. Electrical buses have been introduced to transport visitors to the necropolis, a decidedly more sustainable solution, which reduces the environmental impact and free animals from a fate of suffering.
Of course, not everything is smooth: some tourists complained about the expectation of the vehicles or for the lack of shadow along the way. The authorities replied by affirming that 45 shuttles circulate every five minutes, even if perception, as often happens, does not follow numbers and promises, but direct experience.
The renovation project also includes an online ticket office, a new visitors center, the restoration of some tombs. We aim for more organized tourism, more respectful, more modern. But the challenge is profound, and concerns a cultural change before even logistical.
The need for change
The entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris, a key figure in the project, was clear: those who do not adapt to the new rules will be removed. Because – he wrote – collective well -being and the protection of a World Heritage Site count more than the interests of two thousand sellers.
Hard words, which place a fixed point. Egypt must choose: it can continue to chase the numbers, focusing everything on the quantity, or it can invest in the quality of the experience, in the protection of one’s heritage, in the ethics of the journey.
What to expect for the future
Those who visit the pyramids are not just looking for a photo to be published. Look for emotion, amazement, silence, a connection with a past that seems far away, but it is still there, engraved in the stone. If that experience turns into a nightmare made of scams, unbearable heat and suffering animals, something could break definitively.
Today Egypt is located in front of a crossroads. The first steps towards a more conscious management have been taken, but the path is long, and requires listening, vision, and a good dose of firmness. Because behind every disappointed tourist there is a lost opportunity, and behind every shaded camel, a wound that no restoration can ever remedy.
