B2C shows at Expo Centre attracts 3 million visitors

Ranging from jewellery to career shows, the business-to-consumer fairs had been growing in popularity over the years and are seen as key contributors to the earnings and international stature of Expo Centre Sharjah, the exhibition wing of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

During this period, more than 10,000 manufacturers, distributors and retailers were associated with these shows as exhibitors. The figures do not cover the business-to-business fairs and other events organised by third parties.

Meanwhile, consumer fairs held at Expo Centre Sharjah in the first half of this year have reported a better-than-expected performance and the Centre is looking forward to a much-enhanced second half.

"Considering the difficult market conditions, we had planned and marketed our shows pretty carefully and it is no mean achievement that they surpassed our expectations in attracting leading manufacturers and distributors as exhibitors and quality visitors,"

said Mr Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General of Expo Centre Sharjah.

Expo Centre Sharjah organises and plays host to nearly 20 consumer and trade shows a year. They include some of the region's most popular and longest-running shows in their category.

"All our shows have left their mark in the region and their popularity is evident from the fact that consumer fairs attracted over three million visitors and served over 10,000 exhibitors in the past 10 years," said Mr Midfa.

Three of the consumer fairs - Perfect Wedding Show, the spring edition of MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show and the National Career Exhibition - were held in the first half of this year and proved to be big crowd pullers as well as raked in good business.

"What was unusual was that there were long queues even before doors opened for the watch and jewellery show for the day. It continued for all five days of the show. It confirmed that all our efforts to market our shows even during a slump had achieved good results and we will continue this winning strategy to the rest of the year and benefit from the expected recovery in the regional economies," said Mr Midfa.

The consumer shows lined up for the second half of the year include the Ramadan Fair, the autumn edition of the MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show and the International Education Show.

The Ramadan Fair will be held from August 27 to September 21 and is a key component of the popular Sharjah Ramadan Festival held annually during the Holy Month in Sharjah.

It is positioned as an entertainment and shopping opportunity for the whole family and includes daily raffle draws, a huge number of prizes, entertainment events and religious lectures.


Featuring educational institutes of international repute, the International Education Show will be held from October 4 to 6 and targets college students.

"We hosted about 70 exhibitors for the previous edition of the show. This time we are expecting a 25% increase in the number of exhibitors due to the changing marketing and promotional methods of institutes. The institutions now prefer one-to-one discussions to attract and influence students which they feel are much more cost-effective than other marketing methods in these tough times," said Mr Midfa .

The international participation for the show will come from Korea, the US, Canada, China, Hungary, Malaysia, Syria, India and Jordan. Many of the leading UAE-based institutes have also confirmed their participation, including University of Dubai, University of Sharjah and Sharjah American University.

A new feature of the show will be seminars addressing different issuesin the education industry. Another initiative is to attract more school students by introducing a ceremony to honour the best secondary school students for the year.

The autumn's MidEast Watch and Jewellery Show will be its 27th edition. To be held from October 27 to 31, the show is expected to witness new country pavilions from Malaysia and Indonesia in addition to the consistently growing international pavilions from Italy, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Lebanon.

A record number of more than 40,000 visitors attended the spring edition of the show that was held in April 2009. Almost 90% of the exhibitors at the past event have booked their space for the coming show.

Many of the top industry players in the country have confirmed their participation in the show, including Al Zain Jewellery, Dhanmani Jewels, MR Khoury, Mahalati and Al Anwar.

The popular raffle draw, a key attraction to the public, will be held once again and up for grabs will be diamond jewellery and several other gifts and prizes.