JEDDAH, 13 June — “Don’t buy now. Wait for Jeddah 22. You’re in for a special festival discount in addition to the retailer’s own low price.”
“I wanted to buy a TV set, but my friend discouraged me. He said wait for the festival to begin. And you will get discounts and even win prizes.”
“My wife wanted to buy jewelry, but she was told to buy during the six-week summer festival so she can even try for prizes in gold.”
Such remarks were heard at shopping areas and malls in the city during the past few days. Now that the much-awaited Jeddah 22 has arrived, there is a lot of enthusiasm among both shoppers and shop owners.
While shoppers are looking for good bargains with the retailers’ offer of low prices coupled with the special festival discounts, the shop owners and other participants from various other business activities hope that their businesses will get a big boost during the third annual festival.
“I’ve been waiting for the Jeddah 22 to arrive. Now that it’s here I hope to make the best in terms of sales,” the owner of a gold shop at downtown Balad said.
The Jeddah 22, the summer festival which is in its third year, will be formally opened today by Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed.
Several hundred participants are fully geared to make shopping more pleasurable and affordable for shoppers during the coming six weeks than during normal times. There will be discounts and prizes galore for shoppers, say the organizers, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s tourism committee. They are utilizing the opportunity to promote the city as the “golden gateway.”
A leading gold merchant said: “Jeddah is truly the golden gateway because it is close to the two holy cities and thus attracts a large number of pilgrims year round, businessmen and now tourists.”
Gold is being specially promoted during the festival. Special gold coins carrying the Jeddah 22 logo are being sold to mark the festival. This, according to the organizers, will be a collector’s item. “More people will come and spend more money this year. We expect more than two million people who will spend over SR2 billion during this year’s festival,” said an official with the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s gold and jewelry committee. “The campaign for gold is being organized with the cooperation of World Gold Council.”
JCCI Secretary-General Dr. Majed Al-Kasabi, gold and jewelry committee members headed by Jameel Faris, leading gold and jewelry merchant Ahmad Fitaihi and Usama A. Alwazir of WGC based in Dubai told a recent press conference that a campaign for gold would be intensified during the festival so that sales would increase.
Concern for gold sales is all the more great because its demand in the Kingdom was 63.5 tons in the first quarter of this year, down three percent compared with the same period last year.
However, the purchases by pilgrims had become an increasingly important source of gold demand, and an encouraging factor was that an increased number of tourist visas were being issued by the authorities.
Jeddah 20, the first summer festival, held in 1420H (1999) had attracted 1.2 million participants who generated economic activities to the tune of SR794.9 million — SR441.6 million through direct impact and SR353.3 million through indirect impact. The festival had 240,000 visitors coming by air from within the Kingdom (18 percent increase), 103,000 international visitors (up 40 percent), 400,000 visitors who came by private cars, and 60,000 others who arrived by coaches (up 27 percent), aside from 400,000 residents of Jeddah, according to the organizers.
A survey done by international study group KPMG of the two previous summer festivals — Jeddah 20 and Jeddah 21 — drew over two million visitors who spent SR1.8 billion. The activities benefited all sectors of the economy. “In the context of this study, the chamber’s tourism committee has made elaborate preparations for organizing the festival and added several new features and activities, one of them being gold promotion,” Al-Kasabi said.
While promoting gold among visitors, “We want them to include it as an item in their regular shopping lists aside from purchasing it for weddings and other special occasions,” said Alwazir.
To boost gold sales, incentives will be offered. They include weekly draws (every Monday) throughout the festival during which a total of 13 kilo gold will be distributed as prizes to shoppers. Winners of the first three prizes will each get a kilo, half kilo and a quarter kilo gold respectively. Ten kilo of gold coins will be distributed to the fourth prize winners, while the fifth prize winners will get five gold coins, and 10 sixth prize winners will each be given a gold coin.
Other winners also stand to get gold coins. Additionally, there will be special prizes offered by participating gold and jewelry shops who number 140 in Jeddah alone.
Festival draws will be held on Mondays — at Jeddah International Market (June 25), Oasis Mall (July 2), Hera Market (July 9), Hijaz Commercial Market (July 16) and Najjar Commercial Market (July 30).
