The Joburg Shopping Festival 2016 took place in South Africa’s shopping capital between 28 July and 9 August at six malls across Johannesburg: Sandton City, Nelson Mandela Square, East Rand Mall, Rosebank Mall, Maponya Mall and the Oriental Plaza. On the final day of the festival, the organisers gave away five Chevrolet Sparks as well as five cash prizes of R25 000 (roughly about N625,000) courtesy of Cadbury. The retailers at the participating malls provided sales and discounts during this time to attract both local shoppers and visitors from the African continent.
The event, which is in its third year, is modelled on the world-renowned Dubai Shopping Festival, which attracts millions of shoppers every year and in doing so, contributes significantly to the Dubai economy. The Joburg Shopping Festival is supported by its headline partners, Gauteng Tourism Authority and the City of Joburg. The objective of the shopping festival is to attract tourists to South Africa to spend their money and to stay a little bit longer to enjoy the wealth of culture, history and experiences that the region has to offer in order to boost the tourism and retail sectors, and ultimately the Gauteng Economy.
Ayoola Sadare Chief Executive Officer of brands and creative powerhouse Inspiro productions and a collaborator from Lagos, Nigeria attended the grand prize draw and pop-up showcase of local fashion designers at the end of the festival in Maponya Mall in Soweto in attendance also were the immediate past South Africa Consul General Ambassador Sam Monaisa. There, Sadare spoke to project director and head of the organising team Ms. Tiekie Barnard on the plans to use both the Dubai and Joburg Shopping Festival models with necessary adaptations to organise the Lagos Shopping Festival in Africa’s Largest city. This will also contribute to help grow the Lagos and subsequently Nigerian economy.
Ms. Barnard noted: “The Joburg Shopping Festival is in its third year and growing exponentially. We’ve already had one of our malls confirm that footfall was up by 3.5% compared to the same period last year, as well as retailers also confirming higher turnovers.”
The maiden Lagos Shopping Festival to be organised by Zeal Drive ltd in conjunction with Inspiro productions is planned for the first quarter of 2017 shortly after the annual Dubai Shopping Festival in January.
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