Sands of Ambition: The Tourism Renaissance in the Gulf and Egypt
Sands of Ambition: The Tourism Renaissance in the Gulf and Egypt Where Time Bends Between Dune and Dome For centuries, the lands stretching from the Nile Delta to the Persian Gulf were framed through the lens of myth and mystery—places whispered about in ancient texts, traversed by caravans and pilgrims, and guarded by deserts that swallowed time itself. To the outside world, they were either sacred or sealed: Egypt, keeper of pharaohs’ tombs; Saudi Arabia, guardian of Islam’s holiest sites; the pearling sheikhdoms of the Gulf, soon to be reborn as glass-and-steel marvels. Back then, tourism was not a strategy—it was an afterthought, if considered at all. But history has a way of accelerating. In just three decades, a quiet revolution has unfolded across this sun-scorched arc of civilization. Governments once reliant on oil revenues began asking a daring question: What if our greatest asset isn’t beneath the sand—but above it? The answer has reshaped skylines, revived forgotten o...