by Eman Ibrahim & translated by Shimaa Abdel Aziz

Real estate exhibitions have become popular promoting means since Egypt is launching significant development projects and inaugurating new cities such as the NAC. They host major development companies, investors, and clients looking for real estate units with definite details. For this reason, many developers render exhibitions to promote their projects and attract more clients.

Nowadays, many companies go for organizing real estate exhibitions. Meanwhile, some experts consider these exhibitions a sort of distraction to the client. Thus, exhibitions lose their goal of achieving targeted sales, to become just means for marketing.

During their interview with Invest-Gate, experts praised the ability of real estate exhibitions in promoting different projects. Also, they call for organizing these exhibitions by a government real estate authority, in addition to issuing legalizations to protect investors. Moreover, experts call for real estate exhibitions across provinces as they provide communication between developers and clients.

Means of Promotion

Recently, several questions have risen about the randomness of real estate exhibitions as some of them didn’t receive the expected turnout nor achieve the targeted sales.

In this regard, Ashraf Dowidar, a real estate developer, states, “I believe that real estate exhibitions are not important, and they are just an opportunity for customers to know what is available in the market.”

General Manager of Aqar Masr Bahaa Hefzallah explains that having a large number of real estate exhibitions is harmful for developers, as they are not organized by specialized companies only, but marketers as well. Accordingly, the spread of real estate exhibitions resulted in distracting clients, as they are being held on a weekly basis since 2020-end.

Moreover, Dowidar clarifies that the projects offered in the exhibitions are credible, so the client visits these exhibitions to be aware of the newly launched projects, then heads to brokers to purchase.

Dowidar also says that real estate companies use real estate exhibitions to promote their projects. Thus, these companies are keen to participate in major exhibitions to attract more clients no matter how they achieve the targeted sales. Dowidar reveals that the largest real estate exhibition currently is Cityscape, followed by Al-Ahram Real Estate.

In a similar vein, Abeer Essam, member of the Real Estate Development Chamber, states, “In 2022, we still have not seen any real estate exhibitions due to many factors, most notably the Russian-Ukrainian War.”

Essam also describes what is happening now as an agreement by a group of developers or marketers to hold a one-day event to promote some projects; but this cannot be considered as a real estate exhibition.

On the other hand, Hefzallah calls for holding exhibitions under the supervision of a state real estate authority to ensure the credibility of these exhibitions and the participating companies in terms of licenses and projects to protect the investor. Hefzallah notes that the phenomenon of having many real estate exhibitions will decline in the long run, and clients will be able to detect credible exhibitions that major companies participate in.

A Reflection of Real Estate Popularity

Some experts support the idea of having many real estate exhibitions, as they reflect the recent activity in Egypt’s real estate sector. Fathallah Fawzy, chairman of the Construction Committee Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA), explains that the huge number of real estate exhibitions now reflects the growth of real estate projects.

Currently, Egypt sees an unprecedented renaissance in urban development since companies can get land by direct allocation and financing facilities, whether through initiatives led by the government or banks. This helps many foreign companies to join the Egyptian real estate market.

Fawzy adds that organizing real estate exhibitions has become an industry to some specialized companies, which led to an increase in employment and investment opportunities. These companies also contribute in supporting real estate investment and exporting real estate.

On her part, Essam clarifies that there are credible real estate exhibitions organized by the state such as Al-Ahram Real Estate, Al-Akhbar Real Estate, and Cityscape.

Regarding real estate exhibitions held abroad, Essam indicates that Egyptian companies do not participate in these exhibitions until checking their licenses and the implementation rates of the participating projects. Likewise, when the Real Estate Development Chamber and its companies are invited to participate in exhibitions locally or abroad, the chamber checks the organizer first to ensure credibility and then decides whether to participate in the exhibition or not.

To conclude, the phenomenon of the spread of real estate exhibitions remains stuck between being supported and rejected by experts. Yet, there is no dispute over their role in enriching sales, whether by marketing only or achieving sales.