The fifth edition of Shop Qatar came to a close yesterday after running for a month between 10 September and 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 4 million QAR 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 QAR 32.5M across the 13 participating malls, The Pearl, and Qatar Duty Free throughout the 4 weeks.
Chairman of Qatar Tourism and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said, “This year’s Shop Qatar is special because it provides a beacon of hope to our community as we gradually return to normalcy. 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 the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).”
He added: “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 provides 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 QAR 4 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 customize their purchases.
In addition, seven workshops were arranged in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU-Q), 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 by international designers including renowned Indian American designer Naeem Khan who showed his designs at Doha Design District at an exclusive privet viewing on 9th October. Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra held trunk shows at the Mondrian Hotel from 28th to 30th September 2021. Other events featuring regional artists included makeup masterclasses by Bassam Fattouh and Ghadeer Sultan and music concerts by Wael Kfouri 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% at 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 Hamad International Airport.
For media-related inquiries, please contact Qatar Tourism’s Press Office on:
+974 7034 8963 | pressoffice@visitqatar.qa
About Shop Qatar
Shop Qatar is a month-long festival that celebrates the country’s diverse retail offerings and invites residents and visitors to enjoy special experiences at malls and other venues across the country.
The festival forms a part of Qatar Tourism’s strategy to grow and diversify the country’s tourism offering, particularly in the area of family and urban entertainment. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of partners in both the public and private sector, residents and visitors can benefit from special travel, accommodation and retail offers throughout the country.
Find Shop Qatar online
www.visitqatar.qa/en/events/shop-qatar
Facebook: QatarCalendar
Instagram: @QatarCalendar
Twitter: @QatarCalendar
About Qatar Tourism
Qatar Tourism’s mission is to establish Qatar as a place where cultural authenticity meets modernity, and where people of the world come together to experience unique offerings in culture, sports, business and family entertainment, rooted in Service Excellence. Qatar Tourism will regulate and develop the tourism industry, encouraging investment from the private sector. It will set the national strategy for the tourism sector, reviewing it periodically and overseeing its implementation, with the aim of diversifying tourism offerings in the country and increasing visitor spend. Through our network of international offices in priority markets, and cutting-edge digital platforms, Qatar Tourism is expanding Qatar’s presence globally and enhancing the tourism sector.
Web: www.visitqatar.qa
