(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 crawds and parrying aggressive hawkers.
Now, Thanks to a $ 30 Million Revamp That Retics 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 eat enjoy fine dining overlooking the 4,600-age-ald monuments.
All this official 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 west of Caizaul the Giza West of Caizaul 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 interviel. The firm will operate the location for the next 11 years, drawing revealed not from ticket sales – which the government is soly entitled to – but from vip tours, sponsorship deals and commeercial leasse on 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 togeether, the two projects represent some of the biggest strides yet in egypt’s goal of doubling annual visitors to 30 million with a decade. It’s a target that would put it roughly on par with green, Making it one of the most-visited counties in the world.
One of the key changes was to make the giza plateau car-free. Intead 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 minters, they can be dropped off at the feel 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-legging, including upgraded restroms, formal souvenir stores and cafes. And with the opening of several eateries in recent years, you can finally order a meal on-scene.
Khufu’s, which services up a deluxe twist on egyptian staples and has a terrace overlooking the pyramid built for the pharaoh of the same name, haven ranked one of the middle East and North Africa # 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 alredy on a tear and saw record arrorals in the opening months of 2025, thinking, so it’s unsclear how much the projection it is the process.
OPE’s Gazarin Says Egyptian Authorities are also helping the company a critical issue: Hawkers offering humors and camel rides. They’ve long been accused of being aggressive and overcharging as they literally and fituratively take tourists for a ride.
Al-Gohary from Calgary Recalled that when she and her friend Rode cameels in 2010, the owner demanded extra money to have the animals kneel so they could dismount from that. She avoided them altoology on this year’s visit.
For the first-time visitors, it’s now easy 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 accusited of accusing tourists. Authorities have Allocated Horsemen a separete and relatively isolated area, but many have been definition 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 was after 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, essentially in the face of regional conflicts that create some Amount of Local Unpredictable. 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.
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