Egyptian officials are hoping the inauguration of a vast new museum on Saturday will accelerate the revival of a tourism industry hampered for more than a decade by internal upheaval, a pandemic and regional conflicts.
Officials believe the Grand Egyptian Museum GEM alone could draw as many as 7-million additional visitors annually after it officially opens on Saturday, helping boost total visitors to about 30-million by 2030.
Overlooking the Giza Pyramids, the 500,000m edifice will house tens of thousands of artefacts, including what is billed as the complete collection of the treasures of the boy-king Tutankhamun, many displayed for the first time. The new space includes immersive exhibits and virtual-reality devices, in contrast to cluttered, old-fashioned displays in the older Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo.
