Dubai Duty Free celebrates 26th year

Dubai: Dubai Duty Free (DDF) celebrated its 26th anniversary on Sunday with a 25 per cent sale on its merchandise and gave away $1 million in a draw, as well as a Mercedes Benz S500 and two Harley Davidson motorbikes.

The outlet has seen a steady increase in annual sales from Dh73 million in 1984 to an estimated Dh4 billion by the end of this year. On December 20 last year on Dubai Duty Free's 25th anniversary, the operation recorded sales of $20 million (Dh73.4 million) in the 24-hour period with 130,000 transactions.

"We began introducing a discount offers on our 20th anniversary back in 2003 and it has since become an annual tradition. We hear of people choosing to fly on the 20th December and looking at how busy the shop floor is today, I can certainly believe that to be the case," said Colm McLoughlin, managing director of Dubai Duty Free.

Dubai Duty Free also had a Staff Finest Surprise draw which resulted in a total of Dh120,000 being won by employees.

Sales have been seeing a steady rise as more passengers fly through Dubai and retail space expands.

This year, average spend per passenger passing through the airport was $50. On average, DDF handles around 60,000 sales per day, resulting in over 20 million transactions this year.

Currently, DDF has 15,000 square metres of retail space at Dubai International Airport. Last October, 8,000 square metres of space were added with the launch of Emirates Terminal 3.

The next big jump in space will occur with the opening of Al Maktoum International Airport. Its first phase will add 3,000 square metres of space across four outlets.

DDF investment to develop its retail outlets for the first phase of the project will be Dh40 million, McLoughlin said.

Last year, the Middle East region saw duty free and travel retail sales hit $2.4 billion, with a market share of 6.7 per cent. The region was ranked fourth, with Europe leading duty free sales at $15.2 billion, followed by Asia and Oceania and the Americas, according to Research Generation study.

Globally, Dubai International Airport topped the sales for an individual operation sales point for duty free sales. It was the single highest sales outlet in the world, accounting for sales of just over $1 billion, overtaking London Heathrow Airport and Incheon International Airport, both of which exceeded the $1 billion sales level, the study showed.

The top 5 Duty Free and Travel Retail shops are:

Dubai

London Heathrow

Seoul Incheon Airport

Singapore Changi

Paris Charles de Gaulle

DDF's top categories are as follows:

Perfumes

Gold

Cigarettes and Tobacco

Confectionery

Electronics

Watches and Clocks

Cosmetics

Delicatessen

Household and Toiletries