Shop Guam festival ongoing

MANILA, Philippines - The biggest shopping event in the Western Pacific — the Shop Guam Festival — began last Friday,  Nov. 29. This annual event is a colossal array of retail, dining and entertainment incentives packed into 38 days of festivities featuring fashion shows, in-store events, culinary celebrations and cultural activities — all carefully crafted for visitors to experience Guam’s tax-free shopping and paradise island activities.

Shop Guam Festival opened the day after Thanksgiving, the day that is known in the United States as “Black Friday” and is considered the start of the Christmas shopping season.

This year, Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) has developed print and mobile Shop Guam Festival guides in eight languages. The guides are free and are filled with information on participating vendors, exclusive offers and events that will be showcased during the festival. Over 160 exclusive offers can be found in the Shop Guam Festival guide.

The Shop Guam Festival began in 2012 as a global social media marketing campaign by GVB that aimed to create an interactive shopping experience highlighting Guam as a modern, fashionable and diverse destination to shop. The campaign was tremendously successful for the Bureau and generated a total of $8.4 million of media exposure and coverage in 120 days. Building upon this global success, GVB is looking to further expand this year’s program and generate more diverse partnerships with travel agents and airlines to develop Guam shopping packages.

“Retail trade is one of the most important tourism attractions and economic stimulators for Guam,” GVB general manager Karl A. Pangelinan said. “It employs thousands of Guamanians and offers opportunities for a better way of life. The Shop Guam Festival is a GVB signature event that seeks to position Guam as a world-class shopping destination, offering luxury to value deals, and showcases the unique HÃ¥fa Adai spirit and the ingenuity of our people’s cultural crafts.”