The National Egyptian Heritage Revival Association (NEHRA) invited a team from the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU) for a press conference on the operetta “Egypt …the Pathway” that will be presented at the Palais des Congrès in Paris on December 19.

from left to right Cornelis Hulsman, Munīr Ghabbūr, and ʿAmrū Ṣidqī

This exceptional spectacle retraces the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt over two thousand years ago. The event is one of the highlights of the Franco-Egyptian year.  More than 250 artists will perform on the stage of the Palais des Congrès, including dozens of dancers, musicians and choristers. The Palais des Congrès can receive more than 4,000 visitors and is fully booked-out.

Mr. Mounir Ghabour [Munīr Ghabbūr], chairman of the NEHRA and producer of the operetta, explains the Operetta will later be performed in Rome and in the USA.

Munīr Ghabbūr presenting the Holy Family’s journey to Egypt

After presenting the operetta Munīr Ghabbūr recalled the different stages of the Holy Family’s trip to Egypt. They fled the persecutions of king Herod of Judea. The Holy Family crossed the Sinai and the Nile Delta After briefly presenting the opera Munīr Ghabbūr, president of the NEHRA association and producer of the show, recalled the different stages of the Holy Family’s trip to Egypt. They fled the persecutions of king Herod of Judea. The Holy Family crossed the Sinai and the Nile Delta to finally skirt the Nile and arrived in Assiut where it stayed approximately three years.

From right to left intern Veronica, intern Olufemi, Drs. Hulsman and PR manager of Sonesta Hotel Madonna Habib   

Munīr Ghabbūr and his guest Amr Sadiqui [ʿAmrū Ṣidqī], head of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee in the House of Representatives, insisted that this operetta is part of a broad economic and cultural strategy to revive the tourism in Egypt. Indeed after eight years of crisis in the sector, the Egyptian government and several actors in the private sector hope to develop religious tourism in the country. The development of religious tourism in the country is mainly organized around the enhancement of the areas crossed by the Holy Family. Indeed, the government has selected 25 sites from Sinai to Upper Egypt which, once highlighted, should be able to accommodate many tourists and lead them to take an interest in ancient sites, both Roman and Egyptian, in addition to purely religious sites. In addition, as Munīr Ghabbūr reminded us, Egypt is now a safe and stable country which can calmly welcome a large number of tourists as it did in the past. 

The development of the areas crossed by the Holy Family is of particular interest since many of these sites are located in the Nile Delta, a region which has never been popular with tourists and which could therefore explore new economic prospects. 

However, as ʿAmrū Ṣidqī pointed out, this project cannot be carried out without numerous investments from the public and private sectors. The government is therefore currently looking for new investors to finalize the project.

Cairo, December 17, 2019

Clément Ethore

Student in Arabic and International Relations, Paris, France

Intern at the Center for Arab-West Understanding