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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at https://pen2print.org/index.php/jsmap/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 04 Issue 11
November 2018
Available online: https://pen2print.org/index.php/jsmap/ P a g e | 1
Innovative Marketing through Boat: A Case from Egypt
Dr. Shankar Chatterjee
Former Prof &Head (CPME)
NIRD &PR, Hyderabad-500 030, Telangana, India
E-mail: shankarjagu@gmail.com
Abstract
In this article an innovative as well as unique selling of clothes, dress materials, bed sheets etc.,
through boat to the passengers of ship is presented. The case was studied in Egypt in October
2018. While going by huge ship from Aswan city to Luxor city of Egypt through the Nile River
such marketing was observed, this takes place around Esna city in the cruise itself while it was
moving and around two kilometers onwards such marketing takes place. A large number of
boats, manually operated by two persons, were involved in this business.
Key words: Boat, Egypt, Clothes/bed sheets, Marketing/selling, Passengers and Ship.
About Egypt:
Egypt officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a popular country for the Indians as in schooldays
Indian children learned about Pyramid, Sphinx etc. It is pertinent to mention that a sphinx is a
mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. In Greek tradition, it has the
head of a human, the haunches of a lion, and sometimes the wings of a bird. Also in schools, we
have learned contribution of the Nile River in Egypt as rainfall is awfully low in the country. In
some places like Aswan and Luxor cities, no rain occurs every year. The statistics reveal
whenever it occurs it was only one millimeter.
From the 16th Century to the beginning of the 20th century, Egypt was ruled by foreigners -
the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, whereas the present Egypt dates back to 1922, when
Page 2 of 5
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at https://pen2print.org/index.php/jsmap/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 04 Issue 11
November 2018
Available online: https://pen2print.org/index.php/jsmap/ P a g e | 2
it gained nominal independence from the British Empire as a monarchy. However, British
military occupation of Egypt continued, and many Egyptians believed that the monarchy was an
instrument of British colonialism. Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt expelled British soldiers
and bureaucrats and ended British occupation, nationalized the British-held Suez Canal.
Egypt's economy depends mainly on tourism and agriculture; there are also more than
three million Egyptians working abroad, mainly in Libya, Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf and
Europe. A rapidly growing population, limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all
continue to overtax resources and stress the economy. Another interesting point is that Egyptians
like Indians than Pakistanis. One example I wish to highlight here. I purchased some chocolates,
biscuits etc., at Luxor when asked him whether he sold fruits as I wish to carry in India,
immediately he brought two pomegranates of big size and two guavas from backside of his shop
that is from his house. I was emotional for his hospitality. Egyptian jasmine is also famous. One
Egyptian who was involved in the business told me, up to 2000, Egypt was in the first place for
exporting of jasmine as it exported 55 percent of the world export. Presently it has come down to
7
th position as only 30 percent of the total export of jasmine comes from Egypt. The person also
told me Egyptian jasmine was better than Indian jasmine.
To boost the economy of Egypt, the Government has invested in communications and physical
infrastructure. Egypt has received United States foreign aid since 1979 (an average of $2.2
billion per year) and is the third-largest recipient of such funds from the United States after the
Iraq war (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt/). .
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Egypt's economy. More than 12.8 million
tourists visited Egypt in 2008, providing revenues of nearly $11 billion. The tourism sector
employs about 12 percent of Egypt's workforce. It was an all-time high in 2010 as 14.7 million
persons visited but with the throes of the Arab Spring in January 2011, the country had problem
up to 2013-14. Now with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as President, the country is peaceful. According to
a Report, there were 8.3 million tourists visited in 2017 in Egypt (ibid). It has to be agreed that if
political chaos persists then tourism which is a great source of earning foreign exchange,
employment generation - both directly and indirectly - awfully suffers. In our country Jammu
and Kashmir is the glaring example.
Innovative Marketing: Selling through boat-
Page 3 of 5
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at https://pen2print.org/index.php/jsmap/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 04 Issue 11
November 2018
Available online: https://pen2print.org/index.php/jsmap/ P a g e | 3
This unique marketing case was observed by me first time. The case was studied in
October 2018. As a part of visit, three days cruise on the Nile River was arranged. I was
provided with a cabin with attach toilet and bathroom. Cruise journey was performed by Aswan
city to Luxor city. It is pertinent to mention that Aswan is located at about 850 kilometers away
from Cairo and well connected with rail, road and air. I visited Aswan by air, more than one
hour journey from Cairo to Aswan. The service of the ground staffs and crew staffs is
praiseworthy. For the benefit of readers few lines about Aswan city is presented here. It is a city
in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate. The city is a busy market and tourist
center located just north of the Aswan Dams on the east bank of the Nile River. The modern city
has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island of Elephantine. The
city is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art. The
climate of Aswan is extremely dry throughout the year, with less than 1 millimeter of average
annual rainfall, rainfall doesn't occur every year. The desert city is one of the driest ones in the
world.
Aswan is connected by the International Airport and also by train and bus. Taxi and horse- cart (in Arabic known as Hantur) are used for local transport (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan). It
was observed that both in Aswan and in Luxor cities’ horse as well as cart is decorated with
designed -clothes and different types of plastic materials, attractive looking. Here few lines
about Luxor for the benefit of readers are presented.
Luxor is a city in southern Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. As the site of
the Ancient Egyptian city of Waset, known to the Greeks as Thebes, Luxor has been
characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at
Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Opposite across the River Nile, the monuments,
temples and tombs of the West Bank Necropolis, which includes the Valley of the Kings and
Valley of the Queens, may be seen.
Luxor has a hot desert climate. Aswan and Luxor have nearly the same climate and it is one
of the sunniest and driest cities in the world. And rainfall does not occur every year; if it occurs
then average is one millimeter only.
The economy of Luxor, like that of many other Egyptian cities, is mainly dependent upon
tourism which is spread over from October to April. In other time, large numbers of people work
