By Amira Elhamy
There is no doubt that media is an influential tool which has a great effect over many aspects in life. For the last few years, the Turkish drama has been penetrating many foreign markets; various records indicated that the Turkish soap operas were able to positively affect the Turkish tourism sector. According to “Think Marketing” website, the success of the Turkish drama had been noted around the world.
Several records indicate that there has been an increase in the number of tourists visiting Turkey in the last few years. Turkish drama run in almost 100 countries; Turkish experts indicate that there has been a 15% increase in the number of tourists visiting from countries that watch Turkish dramas. The eastern Black Sea was visited by nearly 35,000 Arab tourists two years ago.
The successful experience of the Turkish drama, is considered an excellent example that shows how media can perfectly market the positive aspects of a country, which by its turn will positively impact the tourism sector.
The Egyptian market was in fact one of the major markets, which the Turkish drama recorded a high viewership. It can be said that the Egyptian viewers; found in the Turkish drama the engaging beauty that is missed in the Egyptian drama; which has been focusing on promoting mainly the negative aspects within the Egyptian society; slums areas, drug dealing and bad morals were heavily marketed within the Egyptian drama for the last couple of years. Several calls have been directed lately to change the path of the Egyptian drama, and several attempts have been taken to break the vicious circle of the negative promotions within the Egyptian drama.
A significant change in track was noticed in Ramadan 2016; when an Egyptian Soap Opera, named Grand Hotel, recorded a significantly high viewership.
Several elements, did contribute to the success of this crime drama, which took place in 1950 in Aswan. The plot (written by Tamer Habib), the production, the casting, the young talented actors (Amr Youssef, Ahmed Dawood, Mohamed Mamdouh, Amina Khalil and Dina al-Sherbiny), the costumes, did significantly contribute to the success of Grand Hotel; however, one of the main reasons is the shooting of the TV series.
The shooting of the 30 episodes took place in Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. The beautiful sceneries of the River Nile along with the mystery and the splendor of the old architect of the hotel, added a distinctive flavor that Egyptian viewers have been longing for. The beauty was not manifested in the outdoors scenes only; some of the indoors scenes portrayed the exceptional internal design of Old Cataract Palace.
Old Cataract is a historic 5-star luxury resort hotel located on the banks of the River Nile. The hotel was built in 1899 by Thomas Cook to house European travelers. Its guests have included Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Howard Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, Princess Diana, Queen Noor and Agatha Christie, who set portions of her novel Death on the Nile at the hotel.
According to Mada Masr online newspaper, “Grand Hotel’s” location, costumes created a nostalgic atmosphere that has proved a guarantee for winning over Egyptian audiences. The mystery of the story unfolds gracefully with each episode giving the viewers a new clue while leaving them wanting more. It’s well made, with attention to detail plus interesting cast and plot.
There is no doubt that Grand Hotel came to prove that media and drama can significantly market for the beauty of Egypt, which is something producers must look closely at, especially during this critical period where the Egyptian tourism need more effort to be exerted to create efficient marketing.
It is important to note that Old Cataract Hotel, witnessed a high occupancy rate following the airing of Grand Hotel soap opera in Ramadan 2016; this definitely proves the importance of using the Egyptian media as a marketing tool to boost the tourism sector in Egypt, which is a vital sector of the economy. It also proves that positive marketing is needed and more similar succseful productions must be applied in the near future.
