Tourism ticket revenues reach $81,000 in 2017: Luxor antiquities director

434 visitor tickets, worth $69,440, sold during year of launch, include visits to tombs of Seti I and Nefertari, 126 student tickets worth $10,080

The total revenue tickets issued by the Ministry of Antiquities for foreigners to visit all the archaeological areas of Luxor reached $81,040 during the year-period since November 2016.
Mohamed Abdel Aziz, director of antiquities in Luxor, said that the number of tickets sold during 2017 is 583, and they helped to encourage tourists explore all the temples and museums in the ancient city.
Abdel Aziz admitted that the total volume of dollar ticket revenues over the course of a year did not make a big leap, pointing out that most of the inflow of tourism to Luxor is limited to the one-day flights coming from Hurghada.
He went on to say that tourists arriving for day trips would certainly not benefit from a combined ticket to visit all the archaeological sites in the province over five days, which made them think of creating a combined ticket to several areas.
The value and categories of tickets varied from $160 for a comprehensive ticket to visit all areas and museums in the governorate, including the tombs of King Seti I and Queen Nefertari, and $80 for a full ticket, excluding visiting the two tombs.
Tickets for international students cost $80 for a comprehensive ticket to visit the two tombs, and $40 for a full ticket without them.
The number of tickets sold within a year of its launch was 434, including visits to King Seti I and Nefertari tombs, raising a revenue of $69,440, while 126 student tickets raised $10,080.
Meanwhile, 15 tickets excluding the visits to the Seti I and Nefertari tombs garnered a total of $1,200, in addition to eight student tickets bringing in $320.
For the first time since November last year, the Ministry of Antiquities presented tickets in the form of permits for foreign tourists to visit the archaeological areas of Luxor in order to increase the country's resources of foreign currency, in light of the recent crisis in Egypt.
The ministry also issued a new package of tickets to visit archaeological sites in Cairo from the beginning of November. The tickets are valued st $100 for foreign visitors and $50 for foreign student, and a parallel monetary value can be set for other currencies such as euros or pounds sterling.
The Ministry of Antiquities suffers from a shortage and decline of financial resources by a large percentage, as the total revenue collected per month does not exceed EGP 20m, while salaries for workers require about EGP 80m per month.