The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry opened on Sunday 18/8/2024 Bimaristan Al Muayyad, a hospital constructed by the Mamluk sultan al-Mu'ayyad Sheikh near Cairo Citadel, after the end of renovation works. Al Muayyad Sheikh was Sultan of Egypt in the era of Mamluk Circassians. Development works come as part of the Integrated Management of Cultural Tourism (IMCT) targeting several heritage sites in Old Cairo. In statements during the opening, Tourism Minister Ashraf Fathi said Bimaristan Al Muayyad is one of the biggest and most important ancient area listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. His word was read out on his behalf by Deputy Tourism Minister Yomna el Bahar. The IMCT is carried out in cooperation between the Supreme Council for Antiquities and the US Agency for Development (USAID) and it reflects the important Egypt and the US attach to preserving Egyptian cultural heritage. He said developing public-private partnership models to restore archaeological sites in an innovative way, and building th e capacity of small, medium, and micro enterprises to develop and promote cultural tourism experiments will contribute to developing the Egyptian cultural tourism product and increasing tourism revenues, which will benefit local communities surrounding the sites covered by the project. He said over decades of partnership, the US government has invested more than $100 million to protect Egypt's unique cultural heritage and ensure that local communities benefit from the growing tourism industry. Source: State Information Service Egypt