Dashour village presents a traditional lifestyle where the livelihoods are based on crops and livestock farming. The rich natural and cultural heritage has remained largely hidden; however, the village has many key features which are attracting more and more tourists.  

Dashour has lush rural landscapes, seasonal marshland and migrating birds, a vast largely untouched desert, enigmatic ancient monuments, ancient canals, and the mighty Nile. The village is easily accessible and is connected via roads, mainly through the Fayoum desert road, the regional ring road and the Dashour south link road.  

There are many projects and interventions from national (the Ministry of Tourism, The Antiquities Social Development Fund, and the BEST Foundation) and international organizations (UNWTO, UNDP, UNIDO, UNESCO, and ILO) which provide a variety of tourism-related support mechanisms to overcome challenges and develop rural tourism. 

Dashour is considered a part of the “Visit Badrashin” project funded by the European Union (EU,) and implemented by the North South Consultants Exchange (NSCE) and the Agriculture Research Center (ARC). The project supports and promotes responsible and rural tourism in Dahshur and other 2 villages. The project aims to create inclusive and sustainable rural employment in agribusiness, tourism and craft sectors by valorizing and protecting local assets (environment, landscapes, culture, heritage, local food and craft) in addition to strengthening the capacity of local youth and women towards developing and delivering market-oriented destinations which are safe, innovative and offer value-added products and services. The project engages local and national organizations to create an enabling environment for the development of responsible rural tourism.  

The UN Joint Programme “Mobilization of the Dashour World Heritage Site for Community Development” succeeded in reviving 5 heritage handicrafts (palm tree branches, arjoun, jewellery, textiles and kilims) where 427 artisans and thousands of participants from local SMEs were trained to Improve MSME competitiveness. This programme also supports the government’s preservation and sustainable development of the historical assets of Dashour of the Memphis Necropolis World Heritage Site. In addition, there is also a program on institutional capacity for the long-term preservation and sustainable development of natural and cultural heritage assets in Dahshour which aims to educate the community on the protection of archaeological sites in addition to offering training courses on the conservation of cultural resources.  This project has created more than 550 permanent and 350 temporary jobs with these numbers increasing steadily over time.