Dubai: Dubai Duty Free is renegotiating with suppliers after a weaker pound led to lower sales and expects to boost revenue by 5 per cent this year, driven by spending by Chinese travellers.
“We have been negotiating with our suppliers, a lot of whom we pay in dollars,” the airport retailer’s Chief Executive Officer Colm McLoughlin said in an interview on Sunday. “They cooperated very well with us and we’ve been able to correct this business of being perceived as expensive.”
The government-controlled company, which operates at Dubai International Airport — the world’s busiest by international traffic, posted a 3 per cent drop in sales to $1.85 billion in 2016. The decline was partly due to the pound’s slump versus the dollar in the second half of the year after Britain voted to leave the European Union in June, the CEO said.
“The big effect of Brexit from our point of view is the exchange rate,” McLoughlin said. “If it makes travel more expensive for people, it’s serious.” European travellers make up almost a quarter of Dubai Duty Free’s business, he said.
The retailer expects sales this year to be driven by Chinese travellers buying tobacco, alcohol and skincare products, McLoughlin said. Chinese passengers account for about 9 per cent of total spending, while they only represent 3.9 per cent of traffic, he said. Spending by passengers from Africa is also on the rise.
The UAE dirham is pegged to the dollar.
