The curtain comes down on a highly successful Gitex Shopper 2008

Exhibitors have expressed delight with the excellent sales, whilst visitors have got much more than they bargained for via spectacular prizes, promotions, offers and giveaways that were offered at the Gitex Shopper.

Scores of last minute shoppers poured into the Airport Expo Dubai on the final day to get their hands on many offers, giveaways and prizes that were available at the mega event.

"We are heartened by the continued enthusiasm and support from the public and our exhibitors, who have rallied to reaffirm that the IT retail industry is still thriving here in the Middle East. Gitex Shopper has once again exceeded our expectations and delivered yet another week long exhilarating shopping experience for all of its many fans"

said Mr. Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai World Trade Centre, the organiser of the show.

Visitors were thrilled with the extensive range on offer, and this was reflected in the record sales clocked up across the week.

"We are very delighted with our participation at Gitex Shopper this year. Our retailers are experiencing very good sales. The Studio Notebooks are specially doing well proving very popular, with pieces just flying off the shelves. It looks like that by the end of it, this might be the best Gitex Shopper ever," said Bard Walthmore, Head of Consumer Marketing at Dell- emerging markets. This was a sentiment echoed by many of the exhibitors present.

"Our objective was to give the visitors at Gitex Shopper the HP experience and support our partnering retailers. In all, I believe we have been very successful in achieving our goals and are very happy with our decision to participate at the event. The footfall has definitely been very good and the buzz and excitement around the HP stand has just been excellent throughout the show," said Anil Kumar, General Manager, Personal Systems Group, HP Middle East.

Many of the visitors to the show walked away with much more than they bargained for, thanks to the exciting giveaways by major retailers and the prize-filled lucky draws. Laptops, Notebooks, GPS Systems, CD bundles, game consoles and lots more were up for grabs, much to the delight of shoppers.

"I noticed that Gitex Shopper has more promotions than previous years. I was interested in a bundle offer from EMAX, and bought a Cannon digital camera along with a compact photo printer for only Dhs1,199! There are many other offers that are worth mentioning, but I will be coming back with my family to explore them on the last day of Gitex Shopper," said Ms. Rola Jawad, a Lebanese female visitor who lives in Dubai.

Moreover, Ms. Aisha Hassan Al Shannahi, was the luckiest visitor winner as she drove away with the superb Renault Safrane after being chosen as the Mega Draw winner.

Gitex Digital Game World, an exclusive platform designed to cater to the fastest growing segment in consumer electronics, was a big hit and symbolised Gitex Shopper's ability to adapt to the changing consumer electronics landscape by catering to the next generation.

The Gitex Digital Game World Competition title was won by the 'Assassins List' team from Abu Dhabi who won in the local eGaming tournament, beating all participating teams from the United Arab Emirates.

Team members Abdullah Al Muhairi, Ahmed Al Suwaidi, Ali Rashed Al Muhairi, Hassan El Hamawi and Reyadh Al Nuaimi, won a combined prize worth Dhs20,000 in cash, certificates and trophies.

As a result, the 'Assassins List' team was granted the chance to compete later today against the global eSports elite for $50,000 and the chance to participate in the Intel Extreme Masters Global Finals at CeBIT 2009.

"We wanted to transform the Gitex experience into one that has something for every visitor more than just products and promotions," said Ms. Trixee Loh, Senior Vice President of Exhibitions at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

"Going by the audience reaction and the sheer excitement at the show across all days, I am delighted to say that we achieved that and more," she added.

The event proved to be a dream-come-true for hard-core gamers present at the show, with people coming in from across the region to be a part of the excitement at this one-of-a-kind event.

"This year's Gitex Shopper is more fun especially with the Digital Gaming section. As a gaming enthusiast, I think the gaming feature is a cool and challeging idea as its gives the game enthusiasts the chance to compete in a regional level tournament, "said Khaled Salem Al Farsi, a participant in the regional gaming tournament.

Gitex Shopper & Consumer Electronics 2008 looks forward to welcoming visitors and exhibitors again in 2009 at the Airport Expo Dubai, 17-23 October 2009.