The Egyptian government has allocated €45 million to revamp the iconic Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza, after years of laissez-faire, mismanagement and growing frustration from tourists. Once a serene awe-inspiring UNESCO World Heritage site, the Giza Plateau had become notorious for chaos, aggressive touts, and poor visitor infrastructure.
In recent years, travellers who once marvelled at the grandeur of the Great Pyramid of Khufu and its no less famous or monumental guardian Sphinx increasingly found their experiences marred by the inevitable consequences of popularity: noise, crowds, and a general lack of order – prompting the current overhaul.
Reviving ancient wisdom with modern tools
The site has long stood as a symbol of ancient engineering genius. Today, that same spirit of innovation and vision is being channelled into a long overdue revamp, in an effort to adapt the site to the expectations and realities of the 21st-century tourism industry.
Visitor numbers have surged for decades, drawing millions of visitors from around the world, and placing unsustainable pressure on both human and physical infrastructure. Traffic jams at the main entrance near the historic Marriott Mena House – with the lobby’s gigantic window framing perfectly the great pyramid of Khufu – became the norm, while complaints about animal mistreatment, poor facilities and scam vendors piled up.
Tourist dissatisfaction had been simmering for years, but the turning point came from social media and a wave of viral reviews on platforms like Reddit, TikTok and TripAdvisor. Videos and posts harshly criticised the disorder around the pyramids, sparking fears that Egypt’s economy – and vital tourism sector, which contributes around 10% of the country’s GDP and attracts 17.5 million visitors annually – could suffer long-term damage. With the government aiming to reach 30 million by 2030, the risk of having its reputation tarnished became impossible to ignore.
@funnyoldeworld Big changes to accessing pyramids causing massive issues! #egypt #giza #overcrowding #sacredsites ♬ original sound – JahannahJames
A private solution to a public problem
To address the issue, the government commissioned Orascom Pyramid Entertainment, a private Egyptian company, to overhaul visitor services. A new welcome centre, featuring restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops, is already operational, alongside a fleet of eco-friendly electric buses, introduced to significantly reduce noise pollution and improve air quality, and digital ticketing, meant to cut waiting time and congestion.
Controversy on the ground
Yet, the implementation of the project is not without its share of controversies.
Tourists have criticised the lack of logistical coordination during the early pilot phase and the long waits under the unforgiving Egyptian sun. Meanwhile, street vendors and animal rental operators, many of whom have been working around the Plateau for generations, protested against their forced relocation to designated parking areas, claiming the new locations would hurt their livelihoods.
In response, Naguib Sawiris, founder of Orascom Investment Holding, warned vendors who refused to move would be banned stating on X: “The well-being of the public and preservation of this treasure is far more important than catering to the interests of 2,000 individuals who have caused harm to the country for years”…
So, what is changing?
The main changes already in place or underway include new access points via the Cairo-Fayum Road to streamline tourist flow; restoration of surrounding historical structures; expansion of online services; introduction of co-friendly electric buses to replace animal transport; stricter regulation of commerce to eliminate scams and aggressive sales tactics.
Preserving the past and readying for the future
Long gone are the days when Louis Armstrong played his trumpet before a near-empty Sphinx, or when Maurice Béjart captured the timeless magic of the Giza Plateau. Built deliberately on the outskirts of the city, the Plateau today finds itself engulfed by Cairo’s sprawling expansion – a reality that continues to challenge its delicate balance between preservation and modernisation.
If the overhaul is planned as meticulously as the pyramids were built, these changes will usher in a new era of positive experience for visitors while protecting Egypt’s unique cultural legacy.
