The Ministry of Antiquities plans to sign a cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Tourism for managing tourist services in the Pyramids of Giza archaeological area including bazaars, cafeterias, and organising concerts, according to Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Anany. The protocol allows the Ministry of Tourism to manage tourist services in the pyramids area, which could be extended to other archaeological areas, El-Anany said. The ministry intends to participate in two archaeological exhibitions across six global capital cities in 2017, as part of its plan to improve its financial resources and the marketing of Egyptian antiquities globally. El-Anany added that the two exhibitions will include large and important artefacts, and are scheduled to be transferred from one capital city to another. According to El-Anany, the price of the foreign exhibition entry ticket is worth $70 compared to $5 for exhibitions held currently in China and Zurich. He pointed out that promotional banners that will be hung in the various capitals will improve Egypt's image positively and will contribute to increasing foreign tourist influx rates. The Ministry of Antiquities wants to attract investors to the various services they plan on offering on archaeological sites, in order to generate more revenues and ameliorate the current financial situation in the country, the minister said. El-Anany added that domestic tourism is responsible for 90% of the Ministry of Antiquities' income, especially in the Pyramids of Giza, with the overwhelming majority of visitors being Egyptian. He added that the opening of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square for evening visits has increased the number of Egyptian visitors to five times that of foreign visitors. El-Anany pointed out that the ministry will partially open the Grand Egyptian Museum before mid-2018. He added that the Grand Egyptian Museum will not affect the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, and the ministry will work on increasing the number of visitors to all archaeological areas. The new museum will be the largest museum in the world and it will be able to receive about five million visitors annually. The museum will be comprised of several buildings, including commercial and recreational services, a restoration centre and a large park. In regards to Luxor Bus, the minister said that transportation fees have been cut by 20% on the occasion of the New Year in a bid to increase the number of travellers. He pointed out that the bus ticket usually costs $100 for foreigners, but was reduced to $80. Similarly, the $50 bus ticket for foreign students was lowered to $40. El-Anany said that the revenue of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir reached EGP 30m a month, but salaries are estimated at EGP 80m. He added that the ministry promotes archaeological areas by providing low-cost offers, pointing out that the ministry granted government agencies a 50% cost reduction when organising events at archaeological areas. He pointed out that the ministry has reduced the value of annual subscriptions in culture palaces, bringing it down to EGP 300 annually instead of EGP 500. He added that the ministry provides an annual subscription to visit archaeological areas for foreigners and Egyptians. Subscriptions for Egyptians and Arabs cost EGP 400 a year, while school students pay EGP 100. College students pay EGP 150, while foreigners may buy a subscription for $200.
