The Egyptian authorities intend to tidy up the area around the country's main attraction, the pyramids of Giza. The planned measures are intended to improve the country's tourist image.
According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), officials will ban private trade in souvenirs, as well as camel and horse riding, near the pyramids. Currently, instead of admiring the pyramids, tourists have to fight off annoying traders and control their personal belongings so that they are not stolen. In addition, there are many rogue camel drivers around who offer a ride to the pyramid for only 10 Egyptian pounds, and at the end of the ride they demand 100 pounds from tourists. At the same time, the tourists' path to the pyramids is made difficult by garbage and animal excrement.
The head of the Giza Pyramids Development Project, Mohammed Ismail, notes that visiting the pyramids should be a magical experience for visitors to the country, but in practice it is “nothing less than a real zoo.”
It is expected that private entrepreneurship in the pyramid area will be stopped this year. Modern infrastructure worth 23 million US dollars will be created around the landmark: information points for tourists, cafes, souvenir kiosks. Tourists will be transported from the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which will open at the end of 2018, to the pyramids by electric vehicles. It is assumed that the museum and the pyramids will be connected by concrete paths.
Ismail also said that after the modernization, the area of the Great Pyramids will be accessible only to tourists, and the entire area around will be completely controlled by mobile police patrols.
Source: travel.ru
