Joburg Shopping Festival was a ‘runaway success’
11 August 2016
The third edition of the Johannesburg Shopping Festival, which came to an end on Tuesday August 9, has been hailed as the “biggest and best yet”.
Over this period thousands of shoppers and retail therapy enthusiasts flocked to participating shopping malls – Oriental Plaza, Rosebank Mall, Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square and the latest addition, Ekurhuleni’s East Rand Mall – to take advantage of the massive specials, discounts and fabulous prizes in the 13-day annual retail extravaganza, billed as Africa’s ultimate shopping experience.
There was a last-minute rush on National Women’s Day as shoppers scrambled for the best shopping deals.
“As a tourism business campaign, the Joburg Shopping Festival has seen impressive growth over the years. This year’s edition was the biggest and best yet with increased footfall for participating retailers as well as higher turnovers. Joburg is widely recognised as Africa’s retail capital, with shopping emerging as a major tourism drawcard for the city. The highly successful third annual Joburg Shopping Festival is another feather in the cap of the City of Johannesburg and of Joburg Tourism for its positive promotion of Joburg as Africa’s retail, fashion and lifestyle hub,” said Joburg Tourism Head Bintu Petsana.
James Delaney, founder of the Joburg Shopping Festival, which has been modelled around the Dubai Shopping Festival, said the 2016 instalment had also seen a massive spike in the number of prizes and giveaways on offer.
“This year we gave away five Chevy Sparks vehicles to lucky winners compared with the previous year’s four. Competition entries also increased dramatically – from 5 000 in 2015 to more than 16 000 this year. Preliminary statistics have revealed that participating retailer outlet Rosebank Mall saw a 3.5% increase in traffic compared to the same period last year. This year’s event was definitely bigger and better and sets the bar for an even bigger and better event next year,” said Delaney.
The festival saw eager bargain hunters travel from near and far to the popular retail outlets.
Commented Petsana: “From a business and leisure tourism perspective, Gauteng accounts for more than 40% of all international arrivals, with the OR Tambo International Airport serving as the main point of entry and connection for the majority of all these international arrivals. Capitalising on the festival as a tourism drawcard makes economic sense as it not only increases spend but also creates a multi-layered array of opportunities in the value chain.”
The festival is supported by the City of Johannesburg, Joburg Tourism, Gauteng Tourism Authority, Moja Nation and UnionPay International.
“Visitors to the festival were not only amazed by our wide range of retail and shopping offerings – but also by how easy it is to move around Johannesburg using the Gautrain and Rea Vaya public transport networks. Joburg really does have so much to offer – from restaurants, art and cultural attractions, theatre shows and so much more,” said Petsana.