All about gold, drinks and perfume

Dubai: If there are only three things travellers buy at the airport, they are most likely to fill their bags with gold, perfume and beverages.

Recent statistics indicate that many of the 123,000 passengers passing through Dubai International Airport daily splurge their money on bottles of scent and drinks, and pieces of gold jewellery.

Beverages and perfume accounted for 14 per cent each of the shop's total sales, while gold accounted for 11 per cent of total sales.

"Beverages and perfume are our two top selling categories which both run neck and neck for the top spot… We believe that in both categories, we offer a good range of competitively priced products that appeal to a wide range of nationalities and income groups," Dubai Duty Free managing director Colm McLoughlin told Gulf News.

McLoughlin said their gold sales reflect the high demand for gold and jewellery from a number of nationalities including those from the Asian subcontinent, the Middle East and elsewhere.

In 2009, Dubai Duty Free logged over 20.3 million sales transactions, with an average of 55,800 sales transactions daily. Sales revenue stood at $1.14 billion, more than London's Heathrow (just over $1 billion) .