Flurry of registration by DSF support sponsors

With a number of support sponsors already joined in to celebrate what is the region's biggest event in the calendar, more are invited to make this shopping, winning and entertaining festival a truly successful one.

The Dubai Shopping Festival office is still receiving applications from its support sponsors including shopping malls, retailers, brand/distributors, and group of companies to participate in this mega event that promises customer loyalty in the post festival period as well. Registrations will be on until January 3 and application forms for support sponsors can be collected from the first floor of the DSF Office in the Department of Economic Development Building in Dubai. These forms, filled with the relevant details, should be submitted along with corresponding fee at the DSF office before the said date.

With DSF marking greater achievements and greater profits for all participants each year, this time two new categories of support sponsors are being introduced to facilitate larger participation. These include Participating Brand that targets people who are interested in running a non raffle-based promotion, and the category of Official Brand for DSF Events, meant only for brands/products looking for exclusive selling rights and additional business opportunities. With a record 105 support sponsors last time, which indicates the business community's confidence in the festival, the DSF office expects a much higher number this time round.

"The benefits of participation to the official partners are manifold as they can conduct raffle-based promotions and can claim a waiver on participation/permission fees for all their outlets while also enjoy a 25 per cent discount on participation fees for their outlets in shopping malls hence a good opportunity for doing larger volumes of business," says Laila Suhail, DSF Chief Marketing and Communication Officer.

Says Abraham Koshy, General Manager of Rivoli Group, a support sponsor of DSF from day one, "We are very pleased to be a support sponsor for DSF for the 11th year running. The Rivoli Group has devised some innovative and exciting offers and we are confident that DSF 2006 will be a great success."

T. Choithram & Sons has been participating in the Dubai Shopping Festival as a support sponsor for the past 10 years. "We would like to thank DSF for their precious and tremendous support during the festival every year, which has led to a good business growth for us," says Haresh Bhatia, export manager, Choithram.

McDonald's is another business entity that has been part of the success story of the shopping fiesta over the years. "We are proud to take part in the DSF as it has proven to be a great success over the years. McDonald's is committed to support local initiatives that reflect positively on the development of the community," says Rommel Galgana, marketing manager, McDonald's.

Sharaf Digital and Sharaf DG is once again a support sponsor of DSF this year with fantastic offers. "DSF, the jewel in the crown of Dubai, invites the world to experience unparalleled shopping. It is a great event offering unprecedented opportunity for residents and tourists to shop and have fun at the same time. In order to make shopping more rewarding to the world, Sharaf Digital and Sharaf DG are conducting a raffle draw and scratch and win promotion with exciting prizes this year," says Juzar Lightwala, general manager, Sharaf Digital and Sharaf DG.

The sponsors will also get advertisement and public relations benefits from the DSF media center, a half page free advertisement in the DSF official guide as well as substantial exposure in the DSF events calendar.

Adds Laila Suhail, "With the high-profile marketing of the festival in key target markets around the world including the GCC, Iran, the Sub-continent, South-East Asia, Africa, Europe/UK, officials predict that the number of visitors would add up to 3.4 million this year, exceeding all previous years' record. The ground-breaking shopping promotions, incredible incentives and genuine offers offered to shoppers by the participating retail outlets is one of the core reasons for the success of DSF."

The Dubai Shopping Festival 2006 runs between January 4 and February 4, 2006.