The 30-day ‘Shop Bahrain’ festival, which concluded on January 23, generated more than BD11 million ($28.9 million), surpassing the predicted success of the event.

‘Shop Bahrain’ project director, Nawaf Al Koheji highlighted that the average daily sales had increased by 30 per cent when compared to the inaugural edition, with sales reaching BD350,000 ($922,290) in comparison to last year’s daily sales transactions of BD270,000 ($711,481).

“The festival attracted shoppers from Bahrain and neighbouring Gulf countries and this was largely due to a roadshow organised during the build-up to the launch of Shop Bahrain,” he said. A team representing Shop Bahrain went on a three-country roadshow to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to promote the festival and encourage intra-tourism between Gulf countries.

Shop Bahrain is a national initiative that aims to strengthen the ties between the public and private sector. The project was also supported by various strategic partners including VIVA Bahrain, American Express Middle East, Gulf Air, and Tamkeen who promoted the festival on their social media channels.

Further discussing the economic impacts of the festival, Al Koheji added: “The festival had a positive impact on the local economy by creating more than 175 temporary job opportunities for Bahraini youth. Additionally, the markets held during the festival embraced 160 local businesses who got the opportunity to showcase their products to local and regional visitors.”

Shop Bahrain organisers also revealed that the various events and activities organised during the festival contributed in revitalising and strengthening the retail sector by attracting shoppers to the participating shopping malls and retail outlets. Over 60,000 visitors attended the various events held, out of which 30,000 visitors attended the month-long ice-skating rink located at Al A’ali Shopping Complex along with 1,800 taking part in the ‘Taste Tour’ held in Adliya featuring 13 participating outlets.

‘Shop Bahrain’ was launched this year under the tagline “Join the Fun” reflecting the festival’s essence. The main aim of the festival’s organising committee was to captivate shoppers and visitors and encourage them to interact with the different events and activities held at the participating malls in order to get a distinctive shopping experience.

Shoppers were also given the opportunity to collect points in order to qualify for the weekly raffle draws. The festival rewarded more than 20,000 shoppers through instant prizes as well as cars, gold coins, air tickets, and electronic devices. The culmination was during the grand raffle draw won by one lucky winner. The grand prize included two cars, two luxury watches, and a trip for two. – TradeArabia News Service