Nahda University in New Beni Suef, located in Upper Egypt, is a newly established private university in 2006. It was established based on the need to develop education in rural communities especially in the Upper Egypt. NUB presents a model to be emulated, by offering a diversified studies that cover the most important technical, academic, and specialized work sectors. NUB is not just a place for academic studies, but more of a hub for development to cultivate students’ intellectual skills and empower them to excel in research, academia, and social work. Moreover, Beni Suef province is one of the most promising provinces in Upper Egypt, characterized by a strategic location, and a diversified cultural heritage, giving it the potentials to be placed on the tourism map. It is characterized by the presence of many Pharaonic, Islamic, and Coptic relics, as well as a museum containing many monuments from different periods such as Roman, Pharaonic, Greek, Coptic and Islamic, in addition to Wadi Sannor Cave Protectorate Area, dating back to 65 million years. Additionally, Beni Suef governorate is located on the path of the Holy Family, constituting an attractive tourism product, where the governorate can consider a link between the points of the path of the Holy Family located in Cairo (at the Virgin Church) and the same track points located in Minya (the first of which is Jabal Al-Tair).
On the national level, as part of Egypt’s 2030 Vision for Sustainable Development, the government prepared a tourism development strategy, over the next five years, with the aim of gaining the province’s rightful place on the Egyptian tourism map. However, and despite all these heritage sites, potential tourism resources, and governmental initiatives, Beni Suef province is still considered to be one of the poorest touristic provinces, because of the lack of comprehensive tourism development framework. Beni Suef commune suffers from social and economic barriers. Hence, NUB matches the specificity of a newcomer that is eager to modernize its curricula and foster academic cooperation, while its locus fulfils the objectives of the proposal in developing a potential heritage area via tourism initiation, in alignment with the nation’s vision.
