The fifth edition of Shop Qatar came to a close after running successfully for a month, from 10 September until 10 October.
The festival was the first of its scale since the COVID-19 pandemic began, providing a safe shopping experience with retail and hospitality promotions as well as more than QAR4 million worth of cash and car prizes to be won in four weekly raffle draws. Shop Qatar 2021 featured renowned international fashion designers, makeup artists, regional musicians and a Design Week celebrating local entrepreneurs and aspiring designers.
With all Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) COVID-19 guidelines in place, Shop Qatar 2021 raffle draw entries reflected sales of QAR32.5 million across 13 participating malls, The Pearl and Qatar Duty Free throughout the four weeks.
Qatar Tourism Chairman and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Akbar Al Baker said that this year’s Shop Qatar is special because it provides a beacon of hope to the community as Qatar gradually return to normal.
Owing to the collaborative efforts of Qatar Tourism and our stakeholders, we managed to successfully stimulate Qatar’s retail and entertainment sectors while complying with the strict hygiene and safety protocols set by MoPH.
He added that along with developing the retail landscape in Qatar and giving entrepreneurs a platform to connect with their counterparts to share and exchange ideas, the festival also provided entertainment for people of all ages and interests, making Qatar the ideal tourist destination.
Digital Raffle Draws
This year, the festival opted for a contact-less mechanism for the ever-popular Shop Qatar Raffle Draw, whereby shoppers were able to submit receipts through WhatsApp and receive a raffle ticket for every QAR200 spent. The four weekly raffle draws held at Doha Festival City, Hyatt Plaza, City Center Doha and Mall of Qatar handed hundreds of prizes worth over QAR4 million in total including gift vouchers for shopping, PlayStation 5, Qatar Duty Free vouchers as well as Genesis and Aston Martin cars and cash prizes.
Shop Qatar 2021 Design Week
For the first time, Shop Qatar hosted its Design Week at Doha Design District in Msheireb Downtown, Qatar’s new design hub. Between 3-9 October, Design Week provided merchandising opportunities to local entrepreneurs. Design workshops were organised to cultivate local talent and international fashion designers were hosted to provide global exposure to Qatar’s fashion industry.
The pop-up shops at Design Week helped promote over 20 local businesses, entrepreneurs and Qatari designers. The UK-based consignment store for sneakers and streetwear, Presented By also had a pop-up, where visitors could customise their purchases.
In addition, seven workshops were arranged in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUarts Qatar), Candeel and Instudio. These workshops covered topics such as denim, perfume and candle making while also providing guidance on skincare and accessories.
Shop Qatar hosted several fashion activations featuring international designers including renowned Indian American designer Naeem Khan who showed his designs at Doha Design District at an exclusive private viewing on 9 October. Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra held trunk shows at the Mondrian Hotel from 28 to 30 September. Other events featuring regional artists included makeup masterclasses by Bassam Fattouh and Ghadeer Sultan and music concerts by Wael Kfoury and Nancy Ajram.
Shop Qatar 2021 Partners
Shop Qatar offered entertainment and activities for all ages, with fashion shows, concerts and design workshops. In addition to offering discounts of up to 90% in 15 venues across Doha, over 60 leading hotels nationwide released exclusive family-centric promotions during the month. This edition of Shop Qatar was also the first to go international with the participation of Qatar Duty Free at Hamad International Airport (HIA).
Shop Qatar 2021’s retail partners included Al Khor Mall, City Center Mall, Doha Festival City, Ezdan Mall Al Gharrafa, Ezdan Mall Al Wakrah, Galleria Mall, Gulf Mall, Hyatt Plaza, Lagoona Mall, Landmark Mall, Mall of Qatar, The Gate Mall, Villaggio Mall, The Pearl, and Qatar Duty Free at HIA.
Click here for more information about Shop Qatar 2021.
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