When he arrived in 2004 the city was straining under ad hoc development, growing tourism, and rising population. ‘Luxor had been forgotten,’ he says. ‘For 15 years a lot of money was spent restoring Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada after they were returned from Israel, but Luxor was left to crumble. Can you believe people were playing football right in front of Karnak Temple?’
Resurrecting the Avenue of Sphinxes is just one of 52 major projects that to date have cost the government $1.26 billion. Farag estimates a further billion will be required before the 2030 completion date.
A substantial portion of the funds has gone on compensation packages and relocating families. Farag agrees persuading people to abandon their family homes to recover the Avenue of Sphinxes hasn’t been easy.
‘Many residents were initially opposed, but we sat down with them and persuaded them to accept generous compensation and resettlements packages,’ he says. ‘Local people haven’t been forgotten in our drive to improve Luxor. Three years ago people living on the [Nile’s] west bank didn’t even have a hospital. Now they have access to Egypt’s best medical facilities, they have clean water, and 60 new schools are being built.’
Several satellite cities are being constructed around Luxor to accommodate a relocated population, while Al-Toad, 9 kilometres south of Luxor, will host a purpose-built tourist resort. Luxor has always offered fairly mediocre pickings when it comes to high-quality accommodation. This is also changing fast. Several major five-star offerings are in the pipeline and north of Karnak Temple, the Hilton Resort and Spa has just opened after a two-year $45million renovation.
Its sumptuous, arabesque-pharaonic interior incorporates a transparency of view from almost every corner of the hotel towards the adjacent Nile. Tapping into a global trend for health tourism, it has also launched Luxor’s first dedicated spa.
‘Luxor was ugly before Governor Farag began transforming the city,’ says managing director Osman Khairat. ‘Our hotel will really help to diversify the city’s appeal and encourage visitors to stay here longer.’
Watching the sunset burn crimson above the Nile it is hard to disagree. Several millennia of slow decay appear to be thing of the past for both ancient Thebes and modern Luxor. Who knows? The Feast of Opet may one day again parade along a restored Avenue of Sphinxes; perhaps this time offering praise to the new gods of progress.
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