(Tumon, Guam) The annual Shop Guam Festival returns November 29, 2013 through January 5, 2014 and is the biggest shopping event of the year in the Western Pacific. A Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) signature event in the making, Shop Guam Festival 2013 is a colossal array of shopping incentives and events that includes 38 days of festivities featuring fashion shows, in-store events, culinary celebrations, cultural activities and special offers, all designed to attract visitors to experience Guam’s tax-free shopping and island paradise activities.

This year, GVB will develop print and mobile shopping guides in eight languages to encourage and help visitors explore Guam during the festival. GVB will soon begin soliciting co-op marketing partnerships from its members and trade partners. Shop Guam Festival 2013 opens on Black Friday – the perfect day for Guam businesses to showcase their best offerings for incredible savings and value to visitors who will be shopping for all their favorite luxury and American brands.

"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 Håfa Adai spirit and the ingenuity of our people's cultural crafts."

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 $8.4M of media exposure and coverage in 120 days.

“Building upon the global success of Shop Guam Festival 2012, the Bureau’s marketing department is looking to further expand the program and generate more diverse partnerships with global travel agents, airlines and credit card companies to develop Guam shopping packages,” said GVB Marketing Manager Pilar Laguaña. “We are building consumer awareness so that our visitors will come to expect great shopping deals and fun events during the year-end holiday season.”

The development of Shop Guam Festival 2013 will begin August 1, 2013 and GVB will send members a co-op marketing program guide in coming weeks. To inquire about how to participate in Shop Guam Festival 2013, please contact Pilar Laguaña at 646-5278 or email [email protected].