Shoppers and fashion lovers across the Gauteng City Region and the neighbouring countries are in for a treat ahead of the festive season as Gauteng Tourism in association with the City of Johannesburg and VISA launches the Jo’burg Shopping Festival in Sandton City Mall and Oriental Plaza near Newtown. The festival which is modelled along the legendary Dubai Shopping Festival will be staged from the 30th October – 2nd November 2014, with over 150 participating retailers from the two malls offering great discounts and bargains for shoppers.
Shopping as part of the big city urban lifestyle offering is a major draw card for Jo’burg and Gauteng. The golden province receives both domestic and regional visitors whose primary reason to travel to our destination is to look for inspiration, check on the latest fashion and lifestyle trends and shop for both personal and retail resale usage. The Jo’burg Shopping Festival is Gauteng Tourism’s response to this need, which is heeded particularly by people from nearby provinces and the South African Development Community (SADC) region.
Through the development of retail services and offerings, shopping tourism can serve as a platform for urban regeneration by adding value to areas formerly less visited by tourists. Cities utilize shopping and retail experiences to boost the appeal of the destination, supporting economic growth and income generation. Shopping tourism and cities form a symbiotic partnership.
The Jo’burg Shopping Festival is much more than four days of fabulous deals, promotions and giveaways. It is a platform that will contribute immensely towards our job creation efforts and provide a boost to both the retail and tourism sectors in the city region. Through the Jo,burg Shopping Festival SMME Project, Gauteng Tourism and the City of Jo’burg will focus on providing training to SMME’s to expose, equip and prepare them for future shopping festivals. Training support has already been provided to 50 young ambassadors from various fields including branding, credit ratings, retailers’ responsibilities, business concepts and customer services. They will share their acquired skills through a pilot project with traders along the Bree Street in Johannesburg.
Sandton City and Oriental Plaza were selected for this festival because that they present two faces of the city of Joburg. Sandton City is Africa’s high-end shopper’s paradise with a chain of top luxury designer shops and brands, whilst the Oriental Plaza offers ideal cross border shopping, bulk buying and some of the best deals and bargains in the region. Future shopping festivals will extend to centres such as Menlyn in Pretoria, the new multimillion Newtown Junxion Mall and the East Gate Mall, to cover all the regions of Gauteng.
Shoppers can brace themselves for fabulous discounts and specials over the four days, with a special addition of VISA’s Super Hero Man. He will be moving around the two malls and spotting those paying with their VISA cards. One lucky buyer’s bill will be 100% settled on the spot.
