Can 'uber for horses' stir up tourism in ancient Egyptian city?
In an attempt to revive the ailing tourism industry, Egypt's government is trying out-of-the-box ideas, such as a ride-hailing app for horse carriages.
Egypt will soon launch an Uber-like e-hailing mobile application for horse carriages (hantoor) in the country’s tourist city of Luxor and then extend it to other tourist areas as part of efforts to reinvigorate the country's ailing tourism industry.
Through the app, tourists and local customers will be able to order any horse carriage in the city, know the prices, see the portfolio of the carriage’s driver and even rate his performance and that of the whole trip.
Luxor Gov. Mohamed Badr announced the launching of the app last week during his meeting with the city’s horse carriage drivers.
During the meeting, Badr said that the hantoor drivers will also be given a unified uniform while receiving customers’ requests through the Uber-like mobile app. The governorate is also working on providing manure-catching bags for horses in order to keep the city’s streets clean, Badr added.
