Arabian Centres, the largest developer, owner and operator of shopping malls in Saudi Arabia, announced today that its properties attracted 15 million visitors during Ramadan, an increase of 12 percent year-on-year, resulting in the company's highest ever footfall for the holy month. Mall of Arabia in Jeddah led the way with an impressive 26 percent increase in mall visitors during the period. Other popular shopping destinations in the Arabian Centres portfolio of 17 malls across 10 cities, including Aziz Mall in Jeddah and Nakheel Mall and Khurais Mall in Riyadh, also saw double digit visitor growth during the Holy Month. “We are pleased to report Arabian Centres' highest ever visitor figures during the Holy Month of Ramadan,” said Simon Wilcock, Chief Executive Officer of Arabian Centres. “We consider every Arabian Centres property to be a focal point for the local community. This is never more evident than during the Holy Month, when our customers are rushing to buy food, gifts, and other necessities for their families. We hope all of our customers had a peaceful Ramadan and we wish them a blessed Eid Al-Fiter.” Arabian Centres attributes its record Ramadan footfall to the launch of several key initiatives that enhanced the customer shopping experience. For the first time, selected Arabian Centres malls were open for early morning shopping. The innovation was particularly successful at Aziz Mall and Mall of Arabia in Jeddah and Nakheel Mall in Riyadh where the early opening hours led to an estimated 20 percent increase in visitors during the holy month. The company also credits the footfall increase to its high level of social media engagement with customers during the Holy Month. The mall operator has over one million fans following on its social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. “Arabian Centres constantly strives to innovate in order to transform the Saudi Arabian shopping experience in line with international standards,” said Yassir Alammar, Public Relations and Communications Manager of Arabian Centres. “Taking into consideration specific customer needs during the Holy Month, we extended our operating hours to include an early morning shift to enable visitors to do their shopping after finishing Suhour and morning prayers. This resulted in added convenience for our customers and increased sales and footfall for our malls.” — SG
