This came after a meeting between Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa, and other high-level officials to review the progress of this plan.

The plan offers tourists three main attraction experiences in Greater Cairo, each showcasing different facets of the city.

“The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is preparing a strategy to present Greater Cairo in a new form in coordination with tour operators to increase the duration of the tourist experience in Cairo to about 12 days,” read the statement.

Greater Cairo — the Cairo governorate and some areas of the Giza and Qalyubia governorates — includes renowned sites and archaeological remains.

The three experiences are visiting Pharaonic Cairo and its archaeological sites; exploring Greater Cairo’s museums, palaces, and gardens; and visiting historical Cairo.

In addition, Madbouly reviewed the plan for developing Historic Cairo, which involves six routes as follows.

- The route of Al-Muizz Li-Din Allah Al-Fatimi Street, starting from Bab Al-Futuh and passing through Al-Hussein Mosque until Bab Zuweila.

- The route of Bab Al-Wazir Street, starting from Al-Azhar Park and passing through the Aytmish Al-Baghasi Mosque until the Sultan Hassan Mosque.

- The route of Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi Citadel.

- The Religious Complex route, from the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque to the Jewish Temple.

- The heritage crafts route, from Bab Zuweila to the Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque.

- The Cairo Nile cruise route, from Mohamed Ali Palace in Shubra to the Farouk Corner Museum.

Moreover, Madbouly stressed the importance of leveraging Egypt’s unique tourism potential, maximizing the quality of Egyptian tourism products, and attracting tourism projects, the statement added

Egypt has relocated government offices from Downtown Cairo to the New Administrative Capital as part of its development scheme for Historic Cairo.

Tourism is one of Egypt’s key sources of foreign currency, along with remittances from Egyptians abroad, the Suez Canal, and foreign direct investments.

Egypt’s tourism revenues hit a record high of $13.6 billion in FY2022/2023, up 26.8 percent from $10.7 billion in FY2021/2022.

Incoming tourism to Egypt hit a record-breaking 14.9 million tourists in 2023.

Egypt aims to attract 30 million tourists annually by 2028.