CAIRO: Authorities in Egypt have set a budget of about 3 billion Egyptian pounds ($97 million) for the maintenance and restoration of antiquities during the financial year 2023-2024, according to Ahmed Issa, the country’s minister of tourism.

Most of this cost will be self-financing, he added, funded by income generated from entry fees for the attractions.

Issa emphasized the work his ministry is doing to enhance the tourism sector in Egypt and the visitor experience, including the development of archaeological sites and museums, and improvements to the quality of services that are provided.

He noted that more than 4,000 hotel rooms are now available in the country, and added that authorities are working to streamline procedures for investment in tourism-related projects, especially the building of hotels, to help keep pace with the increasing numbers of visitors to Egypt and as part of the country’s plan to attract 30 million tourists a year within the next five years.

About 7 million tourists came to Egypt in the first half of this year, Issa said, and his ministry is aiming for a total of 15 million by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that artifacts and exhibits are in place at the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, in preparation for its reopening soon. It closed for renovations in 2005.

Some of the pieces will be on public display for the first time, he added, and others were recovered during underwater archaeological excavations.

Waziri also highlighted the country’s ongoing efforts to recover Egyptian antiquities taken from the country illegally, and said that more than 30,000 artifacts have been recovered in the past four years.