Egypt hopes vast new museum near the Pyramids will accelerate tourism revival

Egyptian officials are hoping the inauguration of a vast new museum last Saturday will accelerate the revival of a tourism industry hampered for more than a decade by internal upheaval, a pandemic, and regional conflicts.

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INTERIOR of the Grand Egyptian Museum

Officials believe the Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM, alone could draw as many as 7 million additional visitors annually after it opens, helping boost total visitors to around 30 million by 2030.

Overlooking the Giza Pyramids, the 500,000-square-meter edifice will house tens of thousands of artifacts, 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.

Egypt, which has needed repeated bailouts to stabilize its economy, uses the foreign currency it collects from tourism to pay for crucial imports such as fuel and wheat.

Last year the country drew 15.7 million visitors who spent a record $15 billion, according to official figures. Tourism had collapsed to a low of $3.8 billion in 2015/16, the victim of extended political turmoil after Egypt's 2011 uprising.