Could Egypt's tourism industry be its downfall?

Think of Egypt and your mind immediately goes to the Pyramids of Giza, The Sphinx and the Valley of the Kings.

Unsurprisingly, tourism is one of the main contributors to Egypt's economy along with agriculture and petroleum exports, however Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's antiquities, has warned that the country's booming tourism industry could be the country's undoing.

Hawass has said that humidity and fungus are slowly 'rotting' the Valley of the Kings and that continued exposure could lead to their permanent disappearance with 150 to 500 years.

The royal tombs of Egypt's great Pharaohs are swamped by thousands of tourists everyday. Poor ventilation in the sites as well as the breath of visitors is creating a layer of fungus that is eating into the walls of the necropolis and causing damage to the priceless carvings and painted decorations inside the tombs.

Speaking to reporters, Hawass said,

"The tombs (in the Valley of the Kings and nearby Valley of the Queens) which are open to visitors are facing severe damage to both colours and the engravings."

"The levels of humidity and fungus are increasing because of the breath of visitors and this means that the tombs could disappear between 150 and 500 years."

In response, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities have taken a series of measures to protect the tombs, including setting up new ventilation systems, restricting the number of visitors and closing some tombs. The authorities have even decided to
"to close some tombs definitively to tourists and replace them by identical replicas," according to Hawass.

"A team of experts is currently using laser technology to examine these tombs in order to build the replicas... which would then open to visitors in a place near the Valley of the Kings."

The replica tombs are said to include those of Tutenkhamun, Nefertiti and Seti I.

It is not the first time that Egypt's tourism industry has threatened its infamous monuments. In the 1980s, the Egyptian authorities implemented a ban on tourists climbing up the sides of the Pyramids. The Pyramids, used to be covered in limestone, and thousands of tourists climbing the sides each year was slowly eroding the rock causing large pieces to crumble away. Not only were the tourists destroying the artefacts, they were also placing themselves in danger.

Whether the attraction of replica tombs will be the same as the 'real thing' remains to be seen, but one thing is certain - if Egypt's tourism industry is to survive, it must save its historical treasures from those that wish to see them.

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