Shop Bahrain, the largest shopping event of its kind, generated a record BD19 million ($50.2 million) in revenues over a 30-day festival period, a significant increase over the BD8 million ($21.1 million) recorded last year, organisers announced yesterday during a press conference held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.

The fourth edition of the Festival, which took place between January 11 until February 10, focused on stimulating three main sectors in the kingdom: tourism, retail and food.

'Shop Bahrain’ also sought to provide a unique shopping experience for the entire family and provided a number of entertainment activities attracting more than 122,000 visitors from neighboring countries.

This edition of the festival included the participation of 27 hotels compared to 22 hotels last year, 21 shopping malls compared to 18 last year and 41 restaurants in the ‘Taste Tour’ compared to 29 in the previous edition.

“We are pleased with the growing interest that the festival witnessed over the years from both the public and our strategic partners. The success of this edition will enhance the positioning of the kingdom as a hub for family events and entertainment in the region. Shop Bahrain is a unique national platform that aims to strengthen the cooperation between the public and private sectors. We look forward to launching the next edition of Shop Bahrain and will work towards developing a more robust events calendar,” said the chief executive officer of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa.

“The Festival included more than 22 different family oriented events, including the ‘Festival City’ held at Bahrain Bay, the ‘Taste Tour’ featuring restaurants from around the kingdom, and the ‘VIVA Winter Wonderland’ located at Al A’ali Shopping Complex, in addition to activities held at the participating shopping malls. In total, Shop Bahrain provided more than 300 job opportunities for the Bahraini youth,” he added.

The events and activities held during the Festival contributed to the increase in the demand of shoppers, reaching to more than 145,000 transactions compared to 130,000 transactions made last year. More than 137,000 shoppers registered in the Festival Loyalty System compared to 48,000 last year. Shoppers were enrolled in the Festival's raffle draws for a chance to win the numerous prizes offered by the strategic partners.

The previous edition of the festival included 38,015 prizes in comparison to more than 80,000 prizes offered this year that included a luxury apartment in Juffair from HouseME, 20 cars from YK Al Moayyed & Sons compared to 13 cars offered last year, and 6,000 airline tickets at a special rate from Gulf Air compared to 100 free tickets offered last year, and more than 30,000 instant prizes from Viva Bahrain.

“This edition was a great success in comparison to the previous years, where the value of transactions increased significantly, in addition to the number of visitors, participating restaurants, hotels and shopping malls, as well as the prizes. The ‘Festival City’ welcomed more than 70,290 visitors from the kingdom and the neighboring countries in comparison to 45,000 visitors last year. While the in-mall activities received more than 51,710 visitors in comparison to 35,000 visitors last year. Also, the ‘Taste Tour’ received 2,500 participants visiting the participating restaurants from around the kingdom in comparison to 2,016 participants last year,” he added.

The festival organizers also held a GCC roadshow in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in order to promote the festival which resulted in the increase of number of tourists coming to Bahrain.

The Head of Tourism Relations at BTEA, Reem Tawfiqi, also added that the Bahrain Shopping Festival has successfully attracted large number of visitors coming from the kingdom and abroad due to its diversity and suitability for all ages. She also added that this year’s edition differs as it provided variety of activities that suit all ages, as well as many valuable prizes.

The festival comes in-line with BTEA’s long-term strategy ‘Ours.Yours’ that contributes to the increase in the revenues generated by the tourism sector and the national economy, while attracting families from neighboring Gulf countries to participate in the Festival. - TradeArabia News Service