The first self-service machines for issuing tickets have begun operating in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.
The machines allow Egyptian visitors and tourists to purchase entry tickets using their bank cards.
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri, said that these self-service machines will greatly contribute to reducing crowding in front of ticket sales outlets in museums and archaeological sites.
Khaled Sharif, the Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Digital Transformation and Supervisor of Developing Services at Archaeological Sites and Museums, stated that the use of these machines will be limited to payment using bank cards only as a step towards enacting the Egyptian state’s directions for digital transformation, deepening the policy of non-cash payments, and tightening control over visiting traffic.
Implementing the first phase of the self-service system implementation aims to install and operate 40 machines in 20 archaeological sites that are among the most visited sites in the country, he said.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities begun, last May, to limit the purchase of tickets to archaeological sites and museums using all types of bank cards only and excluding cash payment.
The Aswan Governorate installed a completely cashless payment system in the temples of Edfu, Kom Ombo, Abu Simbel, Philae, the Nubia Museum, and the Unfinished Obelisk.
This system has also been applied in a number of other archaeological sites and museums in Cairo, among which are the area of the Giza Pyramids, the Citadel of Saladin, and the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.
