13. Civilization Resilience: Luxor Heritage Then and Now. Effect of Covid-19 on Heritage and Touristic Sites Between Egypt and Las Vegas

Luxor, known as Thebes, is a world-famous monument and one of Egypt’s significant tourism hubs. Luxor’s shape and fabric tell a story of more than 4000 years of evolution and history. Luxor’s preservation and to be sustained is a challenge along with its history, which has been accompanied by constant physical reality, social reality, and administrative upheaval. In the last few decades, rising populations mixed with swarms of visitors visiting each year have wreaked more harm than thousands of years of erosion. Requests for Luxor’s preservation have been raised, with research and studies which have already been conducted; however, actuality is very much a challenge. A mock-up of the Luxor legacy was featured in the Luxor Mega resort and hotel project in Las Vegas (1989), as a symbol of the American Dream. The hotel, which has 4400 rooms and 120,000 square feet of casino space, was designed as big as the Great Pyramid of Egypt rising from the desert and attempting to match its spirit. Prefabricated “Egyptian” attractions and structures, such as replicas of graves and monuments of kings and queens, are strewn across the vast floor of Luxor. The economics of using replicas to market “tradition” as a tourism tool is remarkable. Contrary to popular belief, many people now link the name “Luxor” with “Luxor, Las Vegas,” instead of the ancient Egyptian metropolis of Luxor! The question asks itself, is the open museum of Luxor inspired by Luxor Las Vegas and vice versa? This leads to wondering about the authenticity that Egypt possesses but employs it incorrectly. The focus of the paper is important for two reasons: first, to highlight Luxor Tales, as well as the replica of the Luxor in Las Vegas, in terms of tourist administration and Heritage preservation, and foremost, to examine the old and new normalcy of Luxor history and its replica beyond 2020 and Covid-19. Furthermore, in this increasingly globalized world, this dialogue between the two Luxors’ issues due to cultural and intellectual property led to the creation of a new phenomenon that goes by Civilization Rights.