Shopping guide means business for Palma

PALMA
PALMA City Council is set to launch a new shopping pocket-guide this Autumn, showing consumers what products are on offer in the city and where to get them. The design of the booklet will be laid out by sector with accompanying maps. Information will be updated either on a six-month or annual basis.

Joana Maria Borras, City Councillor for Tourism and Commerce presented the project yesterday at City Hall together with Palma Commerce Director, Pedro Oliver. Borras said that the contents of the guide had been agreed previously with businesses and traders.

According to Borras, the guide will bring fresh business to shops in Palma and because it will be constantly updated, consumers will be able to depend on its accuracy. “The traders themselves,” claimed Borras “have been funding the production of the guide.” “It's a book which isn't going to stay the same for very long because new items of interest for local shoppers and tourists will be added with each revision,” she claimed. The new guide is the first phase of a wider commercial project aimed at marketing Palma's products and services but for the moment, the guide mainly encompasses shopping in the centre of the city.

The information contained in the booklet will also be available on the internet so that people living outside Palma who want to plan a shopping trip can consult the guide on-line.

Also targeted in the campaign are visitors coming to Palma on cruise ships. The very nature of their coming to the city means they will only have a few hours to spend browsing; a concise shopping guide is therefore an advantage to those with little time to waste and money to spend.

Oliver said that one of the major advantages of the design of the shopping guide is that a great deal of information is contained in just a small space. “It's practical and has an effective marketing impact,” he added. Oliver claimed the booklet is “easy to handle,” durable and provides a great deal of other information besides shops, such as on restaurants and the different styles of food on offer, cultural and leisure activities, and on the city's historical heritage.

Linked to the presentation of the booklet, Borras announced the introduction of another commercial project entitled “Palma Thursday Night Fever” which starts today.

It is an experimental programme whereby during the summer months up until September, participating shops will stay open to midnight every Thursday.
Borras said that since the Socialists took power in Palma City Council two years ago, she has been pushing the need to bring small businesses in the centre into the limelight.

Borras added that it is a strategy which the Council needs to complement with free parking and free bus access.