(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Raynald C Rivera | The Peninsula
The second edition of Shop Qatar, the country's biggest shopping festival scheduled from January 7 to February 7 next year, will offer big discounts on popular brands, chance to win BMW cars and cash prizes worth QR4m and a diverse line-up of fashion and entertainment events catered to international audience, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) announced yesterday.
Under the slogan ‘A Brand New Tradition,' the festival will see bigger participation from 13 malls whose retail outlets will be giving special offers and up to 50 percent discounts on a range of consumer goods including clothes, electronics, cosmetics and accessories for men, women and children.
Participating malls include AlKhor Mall, City Centre Doha, Doha Festival City, Gulf Mall, Hyatt Plaza Mall, Lagoona Mall, Landmark Mall, Mall of Qatar, Tawar Mall, The Gate Mall, Villaggio Mall, Ezdan Mall and Dar Al Salam Mall.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday at Al Hazm Mall, Rashed Al Qurese, Chief Marketing and Promotion Officer at QTA, said: 'Shop Qatar 2018 carries the collaborative spirit which will bring the tourism sector with both public and private sector partners towards realising its five-year goals outlined in the Next Chapter of Qatar's National Tourism Sector Strategy. The festival will be the first of many projects in 2018 which support our efforts to diversify source markets and enrich our annual calendar of tourist events.
He added, 'In addition to diversifying our tourism products, Shop Qatar 2018 is designed to appeal to an international audience, leveraging the country's new status as the most open country in the region.
Shop Qatar 2018 will offer mall-goers something new each week with a variety of themes celebrating cultural diversity including Arabian Week, Bollywood Week and International Week. There will be a new set of concerts, fashion shows, master classes, pop-up workshops and other shows and activities based on the theme of the week.
Mashal Shahbik, Director of Festivals & Tourism Events at QTA commented: 'In its second edition, Shop Qatar invites residents and visitors to explore and embrace diversity through its differently themed weeks.
The growing involvement and participation of partners from the private sector and local businesses is key to ensuring that our festivals reflect Qatar's culture, and the economic and social needs of its citizens and residents.
In support of local entrepreneurs, Shop Qatar organisers will erect 30 pop-up shops in Mall of Qatar where small businesses can showcase their products and benefit from the high footfall generated by the festival, all while providing the mall's visitors with an authentic Qatari experience.
Shop Qatar is also partnering with Qatar Development Bank (QDB) to provide several of the 30 pop-up shops to SMEs incubated and supported by the Bank.
Khalid Al Manaa, Executive Director of Business Finance at QDB, said: 'The Qatar Shopping Festival is an ideal platform to achieve our goals of supporting home-based projects, motivating young entrepreneurs to access the Qatari market, engaging with competitors, identifying the mechanism of the market and gaining practical experience that helps them develop their business, and exploring new business opportunities.
Embrace Doha will lead shopping tours at Souq Waqif throughout the festival including Women's, Men's and Family tours from 5pm to 6.30pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays providing tourists opportunity to sample and learn about spices, incense, traditional food, art and clothes.
Visitors can expect more entertainment as Shop Qatar partners with QSports which is organising Souq Waqif Spring Festival from December 25 to April 25 and Mall of Qatar Winter Festival from January 15 to April 15, said Ghanim Al Mohannadi, Deputy Chairman of QSports.
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