Booming tourism, a key part of Egypt's economy, is having a catastrophic effect on the country's unique cultural heritage, experts said on Wednesday.
So large were the numbers of people now visiting Egypt's famed ancient sites like the Valley of the Kings that they were causing serious damage in a way that even centuries of weather had failed to do, they said at a meeting in London.
This isn't exactly new news; the effect of tourists on tomb interiors has been known for some time. What to do about it is, of course, problematic, since tourism is Egypt's #1 source of income.