Bahrain has witnessed a shopping spree like never before! Shop Bahrain, one of the largest events of its kind, has generated over BD11million in revenues over the period of 30 days.
The Organising Committee announced the success of the 30-day festival which ran until the 23rd of January further reiterating the main objectives of the nationwide festival which was to stimulate the Kingdom’s economy.
Organisers also stressed that the four-week event was able to boost the retail and tourism sector through a month-long calendar of events, promotional offerings and raffle draws which attracted visitors from neighboring countries.
“The festival did not only achieve its main objectives, but also surpassed the predicted success as it injected more than BD11 million during the 30-day event,” said ‘Shop Bahrain’ Project Director, Nawaf Al Koheji adding that the average daily sales has increased by 30% during the second edition of the festival when compared to the inaugural edition, with sales reaching BD350,000 in comparison to last year’s daily sales transactions of BD 270,000.
“The festival attracted shoppers from Bahrain and neighboring Gulf countries and this was largely due to a roadshow organised during the build-up to the launch of Shop Bahrain,” he said. It is mentionable ere that a team representing Shop Bahrain went on a three-country roadshow to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to promote the festival and encourage intra-tourism between Gulf countries.
“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.”
As confirmed by the organizers of Shop Bahrain, the various events and activities organized during the festival contributed in revitalizing and strengthening the retail sector by attracting shoppers to the participating shopping malls and retail outlets. Over 60,000 visitors attended the various event 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.