Egypt rolls out its first self-service ticket machines for museums and archaeological sites

The first self-service machines for issuing tickets to museums and archaeological sites in Egypt have begun operating in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.

The machines allow Egyptian visitors and tourists to purchase entry tickets to these museums and sites using their bank cards.

These machines are a new medium for purchasing visit tickets, alongside purchasing through ticket sales outlets in museums and archaeological sites, as well as through the official website of the Ministry.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri, said that these self-service machines will greatly contribute to reducing crowding in front of ticket sales outlets in museums and archaeological sites.

And the Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Digital Transformation and Supervisor of Developing Services at Archaeological Sites and Museums, Khaled Sharif, stated that the use of these machines will be limited to payment using bank cards only as a step towards enacting the Egyptian state’s directions for digital transformation, deepening the policy of non-cash payments, and tightening control over visiting traffic.

Implementing the first phase of the self-service system implementation aims to install and operate 40 machines in 20 archaeological sites that are among the most visited sites in the country, he said.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities begun, last May, to limit the purchase of tickets to archaeological sites and museums using all types of bank cards only and excluding cash payment.

The Aswan Governorate installed a completely cashless payment system in the temples of Edfu, Kom Ombo, Abu Simbel, Philae, the Nubia Museum, and the Unfinished Obelisk.

This system has also been applied in a number of other archaeological sites and museums in Cairo, among which are the area of the Giza Pyramids, the Citadel of Saladin, and the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.