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Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Shopping Festival
Running for 63 days, the Hong Kong Shopping Festival (HKSF) this year takes place from June 30 to August 31 when most stores offer discounts and promotions and late night shopping hours are extended. The malls and streets of Hong Kong are decorated and themed during this period and events running alongside include fireworks displays and themed activities organised by trade associations and food districts. These include the Diamond Exhibition, the Luxury Timepiece Exhibition, Beauty & Make-up Carnival and the Canton Road Food Festival. The HKSF web site (www.discoverhongkong.com) will feature shopping festival news, special shopping offers and recommendations on shopping attractions and locations.
More than 30 Hong Kong hotels are creating three-day/two-night packages during the HKSF period with special privileges such as spa and shopping discounts, while nine DMCs will run HKSF tours. Details of both will be posted on the HKSF site.
Hong Kong's main shopping districts include the established Pacific Place in Admiralty; the newer International Finance Centre (IFC) Mall, with an upscale offering of international and local designers. Harvey Nichols' arrival in Hong Kong has added another great shopping destination while Lane Crawford, the Selfridges of Hong Kong is located in Times Square. Nearby is Island Beverley in Causeway Bay - home to the largest collection of Hong Kong's up-and-coming designers.
UK
Bicester Village
Bicester Village offers your clients the most exclusive outlet shopping in Britain. Located just one-hour from London, the countryside retail village is one of the leading tourist attractions in Oxfordshire and nearby attractions include Oxford, Blenheim Palace, Warwick Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. Open seven days a week, Bicester offers more than 95 boutiques featuring designer clothing for men and women at prices between 30-80% of the original retail price. The reason? They are not seconds but merely last year's stock. Brands include Aquascutum, Bally, Burberry, Clarks, Hugo Boss, Max Mara, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Tod's and Versace.
Operator, Value Retail, works with London hotels to arrange day trips to the village, with transport ranging from private chauffeur-driven car to coach and rail. Passengers travelling by rail are greeted by a shuttle bus to the village.
Luxury hotels nearby include Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons run by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc.
Value Retail regularly forges partnerships with tour operators and travel agents to create shopping packages and offers. E-mail
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Visit www.ChicOutletShopping.com for more information on Bicester Village and other Value Retail outlets in the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Shopping guide
VisitBritain launched a Shop Britain shopping guide that will be distributed to travel agents featuring London's well-known shopping streets and districts as well as some of the UK's shopping hotspots including Birmingham's new Bullring shopping mall and Manchester's Millennium Quarter. Information on family activities and days out, food outlets, evening entertainment and hot shopping tips are included. Visit www.visitlondon.com; www.birmingham.org.uk; www.visitmanchester.com; and www.visitbritain.com.
Packages
The Langham Hotel offers a ‘Shopaholics at the Langham' package, including one night's accommodation, a Regent Street Privilege Card offering a 10% discount at 19 shops and 11 F&B outlets; a Where to Wear London shopping guide and a post-shopping foot massage. Prices start from $597.
Emirates Holidays' three-night packages to London including return business class airfare and accommodation in the Jumeirah Lowndes start from AED 14,013 ($3815).
Tempo Holidays recommends the Radisson Edwardian Sussex at Marble Arch and the Radisson Edwardian Berkshire on Oxford Street from $187.
Europe
Italy
Italy is the indisputable fashion capital of the world and from September 2, Etihad Airways will start non-stop flights between Abu Dhabi and Milan, arriving just in time for Milan Fashion Week.
