Cairo... Today's Opportunity, Tomorrow's Potential

Hi Everyone, its been a couple of weeks since my last blog as I took a few days vacation with the family in Sharm El Sheikh at the Luxury Cleopatra Resort before flying to Cairo for the inaugural Cityscape Egypt. It was good to spend a few days relaxing with the boys in Sharm albeit a lot colder than I would have liked, that said the hotel was great, the staff were friendly and couldn't do enough for you...so a big thankyou to Cleopatra for their kind hospitality.

It was my first time in Cairo so I wasn't sure what to expect given the current socio-political situation, and friends and family saying I must be mad to travel there at this time. I can honestly say that I didn't even see a hint of trouble - everyone was courteous and again went out of their way to help. I think people's perceptions of what's happening are misguided to some extent by what they read in the newspapers and watch on the television! The best solution is to see for yourself and make your own judgement and don't believe everything you read. I'm not saying that there isn't danger but isn't there an element of danger wherever you go, even in London?

Enough of my soapbox rant...

I stayed at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel in Cairo, a luxurious hotel and a far cry from some of the poverty stricken areas I passed en route to the Conference.

Cityscape Egypt was well attended and had an array of exhibitors showcasing their proposed developments including Cleopatra Mall, Cairo Festival City, City Stars, Sodic, Porto World, TMG Holding to name but a few, and it was clear that Cairo is one of the hottest real estate markets with an impressive number of projects in the pipeline or currently under construction.

One of the highlights of my trip has to be my early morning visit to the Pyramids, accompanied by a colleague, Rupert Jaeger from Design International, we toured the pyramids in a horse and cart in complete business attire, we must have looked ridiculous to the other tourists...but then again, we were on our way to the Conference. I even sat on a camel which was really scary and climbed deep into a tomb in my Gucci shoes...not the easiest of tasks but I made it!

I attended the Retail City Conference with thought provoking sessions on the market and its huge potential for the future. I interviewed Alex Cara, VP & Head of Global Partnerships, Esprit for our April issue, a great guy with a wealth of experience having worked for many leading retailers. I also interviewed one of the most powerful men in Egypt, Mr Mohammed Abou El Enein, Owner of the Cleopatra Group about his forthcoming project Cleopatra Mall which is about to restart construction and is due for completion summer 2014.

Before leaving Cairo I had to visit the much talked about and award-winning shopping centre Citystars and I was not disappointed. The retail mix was second to none, with every conceivable brand you could think of. During the Retail City Conference I asked Mohamed Abo-Al Yazid, MD, Citystars how they would maintain footfall and stay ahead of the competition bearing in mind the many new innovative destination malls coming to fruition over the next few years... but after seeing the centre and hearing about their future plans I don't think they have anything to worry about.