Starting in January 1st, 2005, the city of Luxor has embarked on a major renovation project aimed at developing the city to become the first and largest open air museum in the world. The fact that the city of Luxor is home to one third of the world’s archeological treasures was certainly the propelling factor in getting the necessary funds to proceed on such an ambition project. Thanks to the various studies and collaborations between diverse entities such as the UNDP, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and the Center for Information a detailed plan was laid out to encompass all areas of developing the city of Luxor, not only in the area of tourism , but also the underlying infrastructure and transportation system.
Accomplishments to date:
1- Preservation of archeological sites and transforming Luxor into an international open air museum:
Removing the unplanned structures around the Karnak Temple, thereby clearing the area so that the view is unobstructed from the Karnak Temple to the West bank.
Relocating the residents of El Qurna village that was built on top of the tombs in the West Bank to the new city of El Taref.
Reducing the level of ground water underneath Luxor and Karnak temples.
Development of Karnak Temple Square.
Development of Luxor Temple Square.
Developing the area around Memnon Statues.
Reopening of the Avenue of the Sphynx.
Lighting the West Bank
2- Implementation of several urban projects
Upgrading the train station.
Developing the main Station Road that leads into the city from the train station.
Development of the tourist shopping area as well as the side streets.
Beautifying the city by choosing one color for the buildings, and standardizing the lamp posts, telephone booths, etc.
3- Infrastructure and highway projects
Constructing the two-way highway from the airport to the city.
Constructing the new highway to Luxor, thereby linking Luxor to cities such as Hurghada, Safaga, Mersa Alam.
Construction of new tourist routes such as the expansion of the Corniche 2.3 km north of Karnak.
Building the highway between the Valley of the Kings and El Taref in the West Bank Constructing the Abul Goud Bridge.
Constructing the Luxor –Aswan overpass.
Creating the new tourist route around the Karnak Temple.
Developing the infrastructure of the unplanned communities and providing them with essential services.
Upgrading the ferry service to the West Bank.
4- Health, education and commercial projects
Development of El Qurna Hospital.
Development of 19 health units in cooperation with the Ministry of health.
Development of the existing bazaars and commercial districts , in central Luxor and the West Bank.
Implementation of the electronic government.
Establishment of a new Tele-Communications Building.
Establishment of a new factory for bottled gas.
Establishment of a terminal for the mini bus.
Constructing a new sports arena as well as a covered sports facility.
Establishment of a forest for recreational purposes.
5-Touristic and cultural projects
Establishing the Mubarak Main Library.
Establishing the Mubarak Heritage Center.
Establishing the Suzanne Mubarak Center for Women.
Establishing the Nubian Cultural center in a prime location on the tourist path.
Establishing the Rowing Club.
Building the International Youth hostel.
All of the above projects have been implemented over a three year period between 1/1/2005 and 1/1/2008 at a total cost of one billion and 200 million Egyptian pounds, to lay the groundwork for opening the door for investing in Luxor.
Towards that end a detailed plan for investment has been unveiled in three major areas:
1- Tourism
Tourism is the main investment in Luxor, because the city of Luxor contains one third of the world’s archeological sites as well as being blessed with a temperate climate all year round.
At present the new airport in Luxor receives 4500 tourists per hour and is able to absorb any increase in tourists up to the year 2018. The train station has been upgraded to receive 5 trainloads of tourists a day, and a network of highways has been established to link the city of Luxor to Cairo, Hurghada ,Aswan and Mersa Alam.
Medical facilities have been established and existing ones upgraded, as well as state of the art ambulance services on the ground and on the Nile.
In addition to Luxor’s fame for being home to the greatest civilization to inhabit the earth more than 7 thousand years ago, Luxor is also developing different modes of tourism to fit in with today’s lifestyle, such as conference tourism and sports tourism. Luxor is now hosting a minimum of 10 international conferences a year, as well as several local ones. With the completion of the covered sports arena Luxor will be able to host several international sporting events.
An IMAX theater is currently under construction as well as other entertainment venues.
Through the Luxor portal on the internet, prospective tourists can now visit many of the historic sites on line, as well as book their hotel rooms and plan their travel itineraries.
Currently there are 50 tourist hotels, 35 local hotels, 41 restaurants, 177 travel agencies and 180 floating hotels. 18 more hotels are under construction as well as 5 resorts.
Looking to the future, the ultimate goal is increasing the hotel capacity in Luxor such that within twenty years from today there will be enough rooms to accommodate 4 million tourists a year.
A new marina is under construction that will alleviate many of the problems of the existing system for docking the floating hotels.
There are several new areas being developed around Luxor to increase the number of hotel rooms dramatically. One area is south of the Tod Plateau, this lies on 1500 feddans and will have 10,000 rooms upon completion. Another area is east of the railway station that lies on 500 feddans and will have 2000 rooms. A third area being developed is North Zinia and it is 145 feddans.
Several areas are planned for development on the West Bank, close to Hassan Fathy village and Modira village.
Another area being developed close to the Avenue of the Sphynx will house 1000 rooms, and this is a joint project between Ain Shams University and Clemson University.
There are also plans for developing safari tourism, as well as plans for building a new conference center and a new entertainment complex, complete with restaurants and new taxi services and group transportation.
2- Agriculture
Luxor’s temperate climate is ideal for agriculture, and together with cheap labor account for the fact that large areas are being developed to grow specialized crops such as cantaloupes and grapes. 16,600 feddans are being developed in the east bank and 5,400 feddans in the west bank. Many of the crops are for export only, and the old Luxor airport has been designated to carry commercial flights to Europe directly. The new highways linking many tourist cities to Luxor area also used to deliver the produce to places such as Hurghada and Safaga and Aswan.
In addition there is a large forest in Luxor that provides much needed wood and "gatrofa" oil which is used in airplanes.
To encourage investment in agriculture, new areas are opened for development in the East and West Bank and there are around 3000 feddans ready for wood production. Two new facilities for sewage have been built, and there is plenty of land available for beef and chicken production.
3- Industry
Interest in industry is a relatively new area in Luxor, but it became apparent with the developmental project of Luxor that there should be industries other than tourism which need to be encouraged. The goal is to introduce environmentally friendly industries that will also support the tourist industry, so the plan is to introduce food industries such as dairy products, juices, tomato sauces and pastas. Such industries can also serve neighboring cities like Hurghada, Mersa Alam and Aswan, and transportation is facilitated because of the old Luxor airport, the new highways linking all these cities, rail and river transportation.
Two main areas have been allocated to industrial development:
The Industrial zone South of the city of Thebes
This lies in the desert and is about 370 feddans, at a distance of 150 km from the port of Safaga , 5 km from Luxor airport and 12 km from the center of the city. This area has been divided into 4 phases and it will concentrate on food industries ( dairy, juices, sauces and pastas) that will serve Luxor as well as the adjacent tourist areas.
The Industrial Zone in Boghdady
This lies on 200 feddans and it is on the periphery of the highway with easy access to the airport, Safaga port and Mubarak Residential City. The infrastructure for this area is being implemented at this time
الجمعة يوليو 12, 2013 9:47 pm من طرف البطل
موضوع: Investment Opportunities in luxor 