Egypt Reveals $30 Million Overhaul For Pyramids Tourism

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 a trip to Egypt's most famous tourist spot meant battling crowds and parrying aggressive hawkers for decades. Now, thanks to a USD 30 million revamp that rethinks, the experience of seeing the pyramids is finally inspiring more awe than agony. A network of buses whisks visitors around the site. The hard sell has been tamed, and you can even enjoy some fine dining overlooking the 4600-year-old monuments. All this officially 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 plateau, west of Cairo, where the ancient structures sit.

OPE Executive Chairman Amr Gazarin said in the interview that a soft launch began in early April, allowing OPE to make improvements and address shortcomings ahead of a wider reveal. The firm will operate the location for the next 11 years, drawing revenue not from ticket sales, which the government is solely entitled to, but from VIP tours, sponsorship deals, and commercial leases on the grounds.

The opening date coincides with the long-awaited inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the USD 1 billion flagship attraction about a mile away. Taken together, the two projects represent some of the bigger striders yet in Egypt's goal of doubling annual visitors to 30 million within a decade. This target would put Egypt roughly on par with Greece, making it one of the most visited countries in the World.

New Gate New Rules

One key change was making the Giza Plateau car-free. Instead 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 minutes, they can be dropped off at the feet 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 will find facilities that were long lacking, including upgraded restrooms, formal souvenir stores and cafes. With the opening of many eateries in recent years, you can finally order a meal on-site. Khufu's, which serves up a deluxe twist on Egyptian staples and has a terrace overlooking the pyramid built for the pharaoh of the same name, has been ranked one of the Middle East and North Africa's top restaurants by the World's 50 Best.

"It wasn't a good experience before, for sure," said Marian 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 from 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 already on a tear and saw record arrivals in the opening month of 2025, though, so it's unclear how much the project drove the increase.

Tackling horsemen

OPE's Gazarin says Egyptian authorities are also helping the company tackle a critical issue: hawkers offering horse and camel rides. They have long been accused of being aggressive and overcharging as they literally and figuratively take tourists for a ride.

Al Gohary from Calgary recalled that when she and her friend rode camels in 2010, the owner demanded extra money to have the animal kneel so they could dismount from them, an infamous ploy. She avoided them altogether on this year's visit. It's now easier for first-time visitors to avoid getting swept up by the scams. The new setup has denied horse riders and hawkers the access they had to the old entrance, where they were accused of accounting for tourists. Authorities have allocated horse riders a separate and relatively isolated area, but many have been defiant and have pushed for positions closer to the pyramids.

It's a work in progress, says Gazarian, who expects Egyptian authorities to gradually tighten the limits to better ensure enforcement. Because of the issue, he said, "People were afraid to go to the pyramids."

He rules that the pyramids draw just 2.5 million visitors a year, half of them Egyptians. By comparison, over 12 million people went to the Colosseum in Rome in 2023. But Gazarin knows it will take time to build up those numbers, predominantly in the face of regional conflicts that create some local unpredictability. What matters, he says, is that the numbers trend upwards.

"It's unacceptable that the world's most important monument attracts just above one million foreigners."

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