After the sector was affected by “Corona”

Antiques markets in Egypt.. Souvenirs waiting for tourists

  • There is a slight increase in the number of tourists, who reached 500,000 last April.

    AFP

  • Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many small craftsmen have lost revenues that helped them meet their needs.

    AFP

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From the pyramids to the mask of Tutankhamun, passing by the bust of Nefertiti, the craftsmen producing Egyptian tourist souvenirs are seeking to renew the momentum in the sector, waiting for better days, after a period of stagnation due to the decline in tourism due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.

In the Giza pyramids area west of Cairo, the famous pharaonic site, some visitors continue to flock, but their number is not enough for Eid Yousry, who owns a small workshop manufacturing small models of Pharaonic statues from polyester.

"We had 15 workers, but their number decreased to only five, and they do not work every day," Yousri told AFP.

hut of wood

Yousry set up his workshop on the roof of his family's house, which is a wooden hut.

Many small craftsmen, such as Yousri, have lost, since the start of the “Covid-19” pandemic, revenues that helped them meet their needs.

Revenues from the tourism sector fell sharply last year, after it represented 12% of GDP before the pandemic.

After a long period of political instability, tourism income jumped again to reach 13 billion dollars in 2019, but in 2020 it returned to decline to 4 billion dollars, after it was expected to reach 16 billion dollars.

In the small winding lanes of Khan el-Khalili, Cairo's biggest tourist market, Caroline Bouchet, in her early thirties, was wandering around looking for something to buy.

Bouchet, who came from the Dominican Republic, stressed that she is looking for "good quality hand-made products that reflect the local culture, to be a souvenir of this trip."

And in view of the scarcity of tourists, and their insistence on buying high-quality souvenirs, Yousry promises to improve the quality of production and reduce prices for distributors of his products, who buy one piece at a price ranging between 20 pounds (1.28 dollars) and 200 pounds (about 13 dollars), and he is counting on the arrival of groups of tourists In September and October, especially Americans.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, the Minister of Tourism, Khaled Al-Anani, said that there is a slight increase in the number of tourists, who reached 500,000 in April, compared to an average of 200,000 per month during 2020.

marketing process

These numbers formed an incentive to prepare for the post-pandemic phase for the government, which established a new factory to produce reproductions of antiquities for marketing on its own account.

Since March, the "Kunuz" factory in a suburb of Cairo has been producing models of furniture, statues and paintings that marked the four main eras of Egypt's history, Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic, and each product in this factory has a certificate of origin.

In this factory, which covers an area of ​​10,000 square meters, retired Major General Hisham Shaarawy supervises 150 workers, painters and sculptors.

Major General Shaarawy says, “We opened a small shop in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in April.

We will open stores in other museums, and in some archaeological sites.”

Most products are molded using polyester, gypsum and metal.

Sometimes machines are used to set the shape before it is painted by hand or covered with gold leaf.

And if the authorities say that they do not seek to compete with the small craftsmen, then some of the products of this factory can negatively affect them.

The factory's products range from a very miniature version of antiquities that sell for 50 pounds (about three dollars) to statues that are up to three meters tall, and sell for thousands of pounds.

Tourism expert Elhamy El-Zayat believes that the government initiative is a "smart marketing process," but he considers that "production should not be large so as not to lose its value."

For the artisans of the informal sector, as well as for the state factory, the chances of the market recovery seem strong, as Egypt took protectionist measures a few years ago against competitors, especially from China.

Since 2015, the Ministry of Industry has issued a decision banning the import of “goods and products of a popular artistic nature, including reproductions of Egyptian antiquities.”

Souvenirs imported from China gradually disappeared, and the liberalization of the dollar exchange rate in 2016 encouraged products made in Egypt.

• The souvenirs imported from China to protect local workshops have gradually disappeared.

• Visitors looking for good quality handmade products that reflect the local culture to be a souvenir of the trip.

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