Tourism is recovering in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor with the opening of the Sphinxes Avenue just around the corner. Also known as "El Kebbash Road", the project's launch is scheduled to take place in a few days.
Tourists have flocked to the archeological sites and temples in the district, and hotels have seen a remarkable increase in reservations.
"Hotels occupancy rate in the district jumped 20 percent in November," said Mohamed Osman, head of the Cultural Tourism Promotion Committee in Luxor in a press statement on Wednesday, noting that "more tourists are expected to visit the country after the opening the Sphinxes Avenue."
"The region is witnessing a high tourist turnout in the current period. Over 5,000 visitors are visiting Al Karnak Temple every day, a number that hadn't been seen in the site since 2013," Saleh al-Masekh, director of Al Karnak Temple told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Al-Masekh attributed this growth to the huge advertising campaign of Sphinxes Avenue, expecting "the turnout to grow further following the public opening of the project."
Asharq Al-Awsat made a tour in the area where the main route leading to the project is still closed with some security checkpoints set as part of preparations for the grand opening, which will be attended by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The development project of the Sphinxes Avenues was first planned in 2006 after the Ministry of Culture announced its plans to revive the route. The project faced many obstacles due to many construction violations that obstructed the route linking Luxor and Al Karnak temples, which had to be removed.
The project was suspended in 2011, and then resumed in 2017.
