The recently-concluded 39th MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show succeeded in attracting more visitors, recording an almost 17 per cent surge in footfall, and in the process pulling in nearly 8,300 more shoppers than the previous edition.

During its five-day run at Expo Centre Sharjah, the biannual show witnessed 58,180 general and trade buyers, tourists and visitors.

"The show was fantastic. The visitor response was very good from day one and the last three days of the show saw the maximum turnout that was way above the expectations. In fact, Thursday and Friday reported a 25 per cent and 28 per cent rise in visitor numbers, respectively," said Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, chief executive officer of Expo Centre Sharjah.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the show featured nearly 500 exhibitors and brands from across the world.

"The grand success of the 39th edition has paved the way for the 40th MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show next spring. The 40th edition will be a significant landmark for both the show and Expo Centre Sharjah and I am happy to note that exhibitors have already started booking their space for the show," said Al Midfa.

Exhibitors were extremely satisfied with the turnout of quality visitors who started pouring in right from the first day.

"The show once again exceeded our expectations as we received very good response from both our regular as well as new customers. The excellent visitor turnout has helped us post considerable increase in sales compared to the last edition," said Rohit Dhamani, director of Dhamani.

The impending festival season also helped in bringing more visitors.

"There were plenty of attractions that brought in more visitors to the show and encouraged them to stay within the halls for a longer duration. Apart from gold and jewellery collections that were the finest in the world, there [was]... the Najmat Al Taiba, the world's heaviest gold ring, which became the star attraction at the show," said Mohamed Amjed, group exhibition manager for B2C at Expo Centre Sharjah.

The 40th edition of the MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show is scheduled to take place from April 5-9, 2016, also at Expo Centre Sharjah.