Joburg Shopping Festival aims to attract visitors and grow local retail trade

Recently voted “most popular African city”’ overall for young people aged 15-19 in the 2015 Youthful Cities Index, the city of Johannesburg has established itself as one of the African continent’s

Recently voted “most popular African city”’ overall for young people aged 15-19 in the 2015 Youthful Cities Index, the city of Johannesburg has established itself as one of the African continent’s premier tourist destinations. The upcoming Joburg Shopping Festival, set to take place this spring, is the city’s latest offering – this time, with a distinct focus on the retail experience.

Having confirmed four of Johannesburg’s most vibrant shopping centres to offer a ten-day sales bonanza, the Joburg Shopping Festival is set to grow into one of Gauteng Province’s flagship retail and lifestyle events. Sandton City, the Rosebank Mall, the Oriental Plaza and the Eastgate Shopping Centre are the four malls that will be offering unprecedented deals to local and international audiences.

The Joburg Shopping Festival aims to attract visitors from the Rest of Africa (RoA) who are overlooked by many in the tourism industry – despite the continent being the source of an impressive 75% of tourists to the province. By the same token, locals are a key target audience for the Festival – both within Gauteng and across South Africa as a nation.

As an experience, the Joburg Shopping Festival is a fusion of shopping, glamour, music, cuisine and a range of cultural and lifestyle events. Now in its second year, the annual festival is scheduled for the 24th September – 3rd October, 2015, and will showcase the best of the city’s retail and lifestyle offerings, including the much-loved Joy of Jazz Festival.

“The City’s Department of Economic Development and Joburg Tourism are thrilled to once again be participating in the annual Joburg Shopping Festival. As we look forward to welcoming visitors to our City, we’d like to remind them that Joburg is more than a stopover, and encourage them to spend a few extra days to enjoy exploring our city’s sites and attractions. Aside from the economic benefits the City stands to enjoy as a result of attracting visitors and tourists, we are also proud to be associated with an initiative which is setting out to benefit not only the tourism value chain, large retailers and premium shopping malls – but also variety of SMMEs, giving them access to important South African and continental markets.” comments MMC for Economic Development, Ruby Mathang.

From a business perspective, retail tourists from the rest of the African continent represent a meaningful contribution to Gauteng’s retail economy. High-end air arrivals from the continent are a lucrative market, amongst the biggest spending profile in Gauteng on everything from hotels to jewellery. Where cross-border land arrivals are concerned, this audience spends a considerable amount on consumer goods to take home, often for resale.

South African Tourism’s research shows that 35% of African travellers come to SA primarily to shop – a statistic that the Joburg Shopping Festival is set to capitalise on.

Founder and CEO of the Joburg Shopping Festival James Delaney has modelled JSF around the Dubai Shopping Festival, and has mined key insights and learning from the successful 30-year running festival.

“The lessons learnt were invaluable in terms of creating an event which has the maximum appeal for prospective visitors from the region and undoubtedly locally. The Joburg Shopping Festival promotes local trade, commerce and tourism and is poised to be a major game changer in Gauteng’s retail and hospitality economy,” says Delaney.

Over time, the Dubai model clearly shows that this event can have enormous positive impact on the local economy and job creation, not only in the hospitality and retail sectors, but also manufacturing, transport and wholesale, boosting the Gauteng economy at every level.

In as much as travellers from the continent are a key focus for the event, South African consumers are an equally important audience for the Festival. Retailers are keen to ensure that their year-round customers are able to take advantage of the sales bonanza, and will be rolling out the red carpet for local customers.

“While we are looking forward to welcoming visitors to Joburg to savour an array of eclectic shopping destinations we want to inspire travellers to enjoy truly local experiences while in the city. As travellers experience unforgettable moments, Visa remains the gateway to an array of offers that give cardholders the ability to maximize access to thousands of attractions that unlock the secrets to the City of Gold,” concluded Carlo Romão, Director of Cross Border Marketing for Visa in Sub Saharan Africa.

Partners in the event include Visa, Gauteng Tourism Authority, The City of Joburg, SAA, City Lodge, Gautrain and Uber.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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