Cairo is Open for Tourists

Egypt has inaugurated the first phase of renovations on the venerable Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, giving the collection a facelift after many of its objects were relocated to other museums in the area. The building in Cairo’s Tahrir Square first opened in 1902 and has long ranked as one of the world’s greatest museums, with its vast displays of Pharaonic artefacts that stretch over 3 000 years of history. Tourism is a major dollar earner in Egypt’s cash-strapped economy and has been gradually recovering from multiple hits, including political turmoil after a popular uprising in 2011, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which cut off a substantial flow of tourists from both countries. Egypt hopes to grow its tourism industry by 25% to 30% a year, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa said at the inauguration ceremony on Monday.