35,000 visitors throng Sharjah Jewellery Show

A thousand visitors to the Hong Kong Pavilion at the show took home gifts, while five lucky shoppers won high-value prizes in daily raffle draws.

The gifts at the Hong Kong Pavilion went to visitors on a first come, first served basis, while five lucky shoppers or more at the show won the prizes.

The gifts and prizes played a decisive role in attracting large number of visitors to the show. Attractive offers and good prices on jewellery creations, precious stones and watches were among several other key attractions that drew in visitors to the show.

At the end of the fifth and final day of the show, the total number of visitors stood at 35,000.

"We did expect a good turnout of visitors this year. But what was unexpected was the long queues even before the official opening hours of the show," said Mr Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General of Expo Centre Sharjah.

"The moment visitors entered the halls, they saw the prizes displayed prominently. This assured them that the announcement of these amazing prizes was no marketing gimmick... the prizes were here for them to win. They shopped to their hearts' content and the lucky ones took home the prizes," said Mr Midfa.

"Word-of-mouth publicity by those who won the gifts and prizes also helped a lot in attracting visitors to the show," he said.

The MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show featured nearly 450 master jewellers and craftsmen, who showcased loose pearls, diamonds, precious stones, gold and diamond jewellery, diamond and pearl sets, crystals, watches, jewellery displays, and different kinds of tools used in the trade at 16,000 square metres of exhibition space.

"The number of gifts and the value of prizes offered were truly unbelievable. It was just because of these offers I took time out to visit the show," said Maria, a shopper who gave only her first name.

Another visitor, Mrs Varghese, from India, said she was disappointed she could not win any gifts for prizes but made up for it by striking a value-for-money deal on a unique piece of jewellery. "The deal has made my day," she said, beaming ear to ear.

Majority of the exhibitors reported excellent business. A UAE exhibitor said that they did Dhs10m worth of business in five days.

Country pavilions at the show were the rage this time too. Almost all the pavilions - Hong Kong, India, Italy, Thailand, Lebanon and Singapore - saw good visitor response and registered good sales on all five days of the show. The Hong Kong Pavilion had 57 exhibitors, the Indian Pavilion 26, the Italian pavilion 24, Lebanon 22 and Singapore 15.

The 26th MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show was organised by Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of the World Gold Council and the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.