Luxor Governorate. The focus areas henceforth referred to as “the targeted destinations” have been selected to build upon past investments made by USAID, GOE, and other donors to implement different models of sustainable heritage tourism in Egypt. Both are known historic destinations that are home to local communities and provide potential to address issues constraining the growth of cultural tourism. The Contractor shall work at these targeted destinations to identify and implement initiatives that overcome barriers limiting Egypt’s full potential to provide new, integrated, and competitive cultural tourism experiences. The activity is designed to operate within two different cultural tourism contexts: Cairo provides a historic urban fabric with potential for growth, and Luxor is a rich mass tourism destination with stakeholders already engaged in tourism. Both models share common elements, but require localized initiatives to develop high-yielding tourism revenues and products to maximize their competitiveness.
Luxor Governorate. USAID’s past investments in the area of cultural heritage management in the city of Luxor have primarily focused on conservation and restoration of sites, and included capacity building of GOE staff. USAID continues to support the restoration and accessibility of archeologically-rich areas within the Medinet Habu temple in Luxor, and the revival of tourism in the city of Esna. This activity shall coordinate with ongoing projects and build on previous USAID investments by focusing on already restored sites, and shall not restore/conserve new destinations in Luxor. With USAID’s approval, only limited physical improvements in Luxor, in conjunction with stakeholder coordination, shall be supported through this award. Interventions will put restored sites on Luxor’s tourism map, and create viable business models to maximize tourism revenues for stakeholders, and increase necessary resources needed to sustainably manage and maintain restored sites.
