Egypt memento market pins hopes on tourism resurgence | Life

Technicians paint replicas of the ancient Egyptian busts of Queen Nefertiti, made in the Konouz factory (treasures) of the Egyptian government to reproduce replicas of ancient Egyptian items. – AFP image

CAIRO, June 20 – Pyramids, Tutankhamun masks, busts of Nefertiti – Egypt’s souvenir makers are pinning their hopes on a new economic life after tourism has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the shadow of the magnificent pyramids of Giza, Eid Yousri creates pharaoh figures from polyester in a modest workshop on the roof of his family house.

“We have lost almost 70 percent of our business,” he told AFP, lamenting the influx of visitors to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Before the pandemic, “we had about 15 employees – compared to five today,” he said, noting that even the remaining employees weren’t full-time.

He sells his products from just 20 Egyptian pounds (about 5.30 RM) to 200 pounds.

Hundreds of small business owners and artisans had to mothball much of their activities as they were stifled by canceled flights and movement restrictions around the world.

Yousri hopes foreign tourists, “especially Americans”, will be lured to Egypt towards the end of the year, with some groups from the US expected in September.

In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic broke out, tourism accounted for around 12 percent of Egypt’s GDP.

After a long period of political instability that hurt earnings, the sector’s revenues hit $ 13 billion (RM 54 billion) that year.

But in 2020, a year Egypt initially expected another recovery to $ 16 billion, revenues plummeted to $ 4 billion.

In a recent interview with AFP, Tourism Minister Khaled El-Enani welcomed a partial recovery in visitor numbers.

Around 500,000 have flown in every month since April this year, more than twice as many as in January and compared to an average of just 200,000 tourists per month in 2020.

“Smart Marketing Exercise”

On the other side of the city, in the narrow and labyrinthine streets of Khan el-Khalili in Islamic Cairo, tourist Caroline Bucher is looking for “locally made” products that she can bring home with her to her homeland, the Dominican Republic.

“We’re looking for handcrafted, high-quality souvenirs that are about the local culture,” she told AFP. “It must be a reminder of the trip.”

In a souvenir market that has been inundated with cheap Chinese imports for years, the government is trying to satisfy demand for quality products from tourists like Bucher.

On the eastern outskirts of Cairo, a new factory for antique reproductions has been preparing since March to capitalize on the much-hoped-for post-pandemic era.

Named Konouz (Treasures in Arabic), the factory produces furniture, statuettes and paintings that trace four great eras of Egyptian heritage: Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic and Islamic.

Reproductions on a scale of 1: 1 or miniaturized are accompanied by an official, state-issued certificate of authenticity.

The huge 10,000-square-foot factory is run by Hisham Sharawi, a retired general who oversees around 150 workers, painters, joiners, sculptors, and designers.

“We opened a gift shop in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in April,” he told AFP.

Other Konouz souvenir shops will later open in museums and important archaeological sites.

“When tourists come back, we’re ready,” promised Ahmed Aboul Gheir, who is also working on the “Made in Egypt” initiative.

Government sponsored investments under the program total Egyptian Pounds 80 million and are focused on high quality manufacturing.

In 2015, the Ministry of Industry banned “the importation of goods and products of popular art,” including “models of Egyptian antiquities,” as a safeguard to protect its domestic handicraft industry from cheap foreign competition.

Most of the factory’s replicas are cast in polyester, plaster of paris, or metal. Specialized machines give the replicas the “finishing touch” before they are painted by hand or covered with gold leaf.

But even the cheaper products that are created as part of the initiative run the risk of crowding out local artisans who cannot produce in such large quantities.

Items in Konouz range from a small amulet that sells for 50 Egyptian pounds to a ten foot statue that forfeits customers thousands of pounds.

Tourism expert Elhamy al-Zayat calls the government initiative an “intelligent marketing exercise”.

But he warned against flooding the replica goods market.

“You mustn’t produce too much, otherwise it will lose its value,” he stated. – AFPEgypt souvenir market hopes for a resurgence of tourism

CAIRO, June 20 – Pyramids, Tutankhamun masks, busts of Nefertiti – Egypt’s souvenir makers are pinning their hopes on a new economic life after tourism has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the shadow of the magnificent pyramids of Giza, Eid Yousri creates pharaoh figures from polyester in a modest workshop on the roof of his family house.

“We have lost almost 70 percent of our business,” he told AFP, lamenting the influx of visitors to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Before the pandemic, “we had about 15 employees – compared to five today,” he said, noting that even the remaining employees weren’t full-time.

He sells his products from just 20 Egyptian pounds (about 5.30 RM) to 200 pounds.

Hundreds of small business owners and artisans had to mothball much of their activities as they were stifled by canceled flights and movement restrictions around the world.

Yousri hopes foreign tourists, “especially Americans”, will be lured to Egypt towards the end of the year, with some groups from the US expected in September.

In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic broke out, tourism accounted for around 12 percent of Egypt’s GDP.

After a long period of political instability that hurt earnings, the sector’s revenues hit $ 13 billion (RM 54 billion) that year.

But in 2020, a year Egypt initially expected another recovery to $ 16 billion, revenues plummeted to $ 4 billion.

In a recent interview with AFP, Tourism Minister Khaled El-Enani welcomed a partial recovery in visitor numbers.

Around 500,000 have flown in every month since April this year, more than twice as many as in January and compared to an average of just 200,000 tourists per month in 2020.

“Smart Marketing Exercise”

On the other side of the city, in the narrow and labyrinthine streets of Khan el-Khalili in Islamic Cairo, tourist Caroline Bucher is looking for “locally made” products that she can bring home with her to her homeland, the Dominican Republic.

“We’re looking for handcrafted, high-quality souvenirs that are about the local culture,” she told AFP. “It must be a reminder of the trip.”

In a souvenir market that has been flooded with cheap Chinese imports for many years, the government is trying to satisfy demand for quality products from tourists like Bucher.

On the eastern outskirts of Cairo, a new factory for antique reproductions has been preparing since March to capitalize on the much-hoped-for post-pandemic era.

Named Konouz (Treasures in Arabic), the factory produces furniture, statuettes and paintings that trace four great eras of Egyptian heritage: Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic and Islamic.

Reproductions on a scale of 1: 1 or miniaturized are accompanied by an official, state-issued certificate of authenticity.

The huge 10,000-square-foot factory is run by Hisham Sharawi, a retired general who oversees around 150 workers, painters, joiners, sculptors, and designers.

“We opened a gift shop in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in April,” he told AFP.

Other Konouz souvenir shops will later open in museums and important archaeological sites.

“When tourists come back, we’re ready,” promised Ahmed Aboul Gheir, who is also working on the “Made in Egypt” initiative.

Government sponsored investments under the program total Egyptian Pounds 80 million and are focused on high quality manufacturing.

In 2015, the Ministry of Industry banned “the importation of goods and products of popular art,” including “models of Egyptian antiquities,” as a safeguard to protect its domestic handicraft industry from cheap foreign competition.

Most of the factory’s replicas are cast in polyester, plaster of paris, or metal. Specialized machines give the replicas the “finishing touch” before they are painted by hand or covered with gold leaf.

But even the cheaper items created as part of the initiative run the risk of crowding out local craftsmen who cannot produce in such large quantities.

Items in Konouz range from a small amulet that sells for 50 Egyptian pounds to a ten foot statue that forfeits customers thousands of pounds.

Tourism expert Elhamy al-Zayat calls the government initiative an “intelligent marketing exercise”.

But he warned against flooding the replica goods market.

“You mustn’t produce too much, otherwise it will lose its value,” he stated. – AFP