Tourism in Egypt Through the Ages

Let's go on a journey through 5,000 years of tourism in Egypt starting with the pre-2011 economic height, back through the Thomas Cook cruises in the nineteenth century to the ancient Egyptians themselves making journeys down the Nile to visit Abydos and Memphis on pilgrimage, or to travel for work. Whilst tourism itself is a new concept exploring the local (and not so local environment) is almost hardwired into human nature. And considering the Giza pyramids were a thousand years old at the time of Ramses II, there would have been many wonderful things to see. This book explores the tourism industry and its development from selling amulets at ancient temples, through manufacturing mummies for tourists to buy to adventure trips in the modern day. As numbers of visitors increased so did the business of tourism including refreshments, accommodation, guided tours and souvenirs. This book will provide a comprehensive introduction to Egypt and its attraction to tourists from the pharaonic period to the modern day. Whilst thousands of years separate us the evidence shows many travelled for the same reasons people do today. AUTHOR: Charlotte Booth has a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Birmingham, and a BA (Hons) and MA from UCL in Egyptian Archaeology. She has worked in Cairo for the EAIS project and in Luxor for ARCE and has published extensively in Egyptology, including 17 books including How to Survive in Ancient Egypt, In Bed with the Egyptians and The Ancient Egyptians for Dummies. She is particularly interested in the individuals from ancient Egypt as well as the nineteenth century travellers. Her PHD thesis was on the production of paper squeezes as a recording method during this period. She lives in Wiltshire with her Bengal cat, Syrian hamster and partner. 20 b/w illustrations