Dubai: Although the travel industry suffered a setback due to the Arab Spring, Dubai Duty Free achieved its sales target for 2011 with sales of Dh5.31 billion in the year, a 15.69 per cent increase over the previous year, the airport retailer said yesterday.
And the prospects for 2012 look good for the world's largest travel retailer, according to market experts.
"Prospects look very strong indeed, driven by likely continued passenger traffic growth which in turn is being spurred by Emirates' burgeoning route network," said Martin Moodie, a market expert on the travel retail sector.
More potential
"More passengers spells more potential customers and Dubai Duty Free is one of the best in the business in converting travellers into shoppers.
"There's also a growing element of higher-spending North Asian consumers flying through Dubai, notably the Chinese, the industry's fastest-growing force," he told Gulf News in an emailed statement.
Over 22.4 million sales were made at Dubai Duty Free last year — an average of over 61,000 per day — led by perfumes which retained their position as the best selling category with an increase of 22 per cent year-on-year.
Sales of perfumes touched Dh803 million, an increase of $40 million over the previous year, according to DDF, with the category thus accounting for 15 per cent of sales.
This was followed by liquor and gold sales of Dh744 million and Dh591 million respectively, an increase of 18 per cent [for liquor] and 20 per cent [for gold] year-on-year.
Electronics jumped to fifth place with the demand for the latest technology driving sales up 17 per cent to Dh406 million for the year.
In his capacity as chairman of Dubai Duty Free, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, said: "It has been a fantastic year for Dubai Duty Free. The entire team has worked hard to maintain its position as the single largest airport retailer in the world in terms of turnover and I congratulate them on this great achievement."
‘Great year'
Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice-Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, said: "We can look back on 2011 as a great year in which the operation went from strength to strength and sales soared to a new high."
Further, listing some of the key trends that DDF is likely to experience in 2012, Moodie said: "DDF's strength is the diversity of its offer.
"With more focus on Northern Asians, you can expect to see a growth in upscale purchases such as luxury watches. And gold will continue to flourish because of the troubled global economy."
Meanwhile, sales in Dec-ember helped increase DDF's sales for 2011 by setting a new monthly sales record of Dh589 million.
The operation's 28th anniversary on December 20 offered customers a 25 per cent discount on a range of products, resulting in a massive surge in sales and a new daily record.
