An Egyptian lawmaker has called for the ticketing system at the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Cairo to be overhauled, claiming that the current approach places Egyptian citizens in a “secondary category”.
Speaking on Friday, GEM’s chief executive Ahmed Ghoneim confirmed that the museum had exceeded its daily limit of 20,000 tickets, instead selling 27,000. Following speculation online, he confirmed that the museum does allocate tickets separately to both Egyptians and foreigners, but said the ratio would never exceed 60% and 40% in either direction.
Freddy Elbaiady, a member of parliament and the vice president of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, told The Art Newspaper: “What matters now is that the issue is systematically corrected. Any quota system—whatever the percentages—should be cancelled altogether. Egyptians must not be placed in a secondary category when accessing their own heritage.”
On 16 November, Elbaiady submitted a formal request to remove the quota. In a Facebook post, he said: “I have no problem at all that a foreign tourist pays for a more expensive ticket, and with hard currency, which is normal and exists in most countries of the world. But in all of the world [there] is not a single country that says to its citizens: 'Sorry, there is no place for Egyptians, we have finished your share!'”.
He told The Art Newspaper: “The museum hasn’t responded to me yet but apparently there is still a quota for Egyptian visitors…I will continue to press firmly until this is resolved in a clear, transparent and permanent manner.”
In an Instagram post on 15 November GEM addressed its visitor flow, and asserted its commitment to offering a “distinguished visitor experience that reflects its global standing”. It also announced plans to implement a pre-booking system with designated entry time slots, which came into use on 16 November. The museum announced that from 1 December online booking will become the “exclusive method” for purchasing entry tickets throughout the week.
Tickets for the museum can currently be booked online for certain dates. The price for an Egyptian adult is EGP 200 (£3.20), while an adult ticket for “Arabs or other nationalities” is 1,450 EGP (£23.20).
The GEM is situated among the Giza complex of pyramids, around 45 minutes from central Cairo. It was first proposed in 1992 by the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, as the century-old Egyptian Museum in Cairo’s Tahrir Square was unable to cope with the number of tourists.
The museum is run as a private/public partnership, with the Egyptian company Hassan Allam in charge via its subsidiary, Legacy, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities responsible for the artefacts.
GEM was contacted for comment.
