Dubai Duty-Free is on track to meet its goal of US$1.6 billion by the end of the year after recording a 104% increase in sales for the first eight months of 2022. Turnover reached US$1.06 billion.
The top five categories—perfumes, liquor, gold, cigarettes & tobacco, and electronics—remain the same. Perfume sales increased by 89% to US$186 million, while liquor sales—which account for 16% of total sales—reached US$168 million.
Sales of gold totaled US$106 million, an increase of 181% over the same period last year. Cigarettes and tobacco sales totaled US$98 million, or 9% of total sales, while sales of electronics increased by 79% to US$81 million.
Fashion saw a rise from US$41 to US$130 million, which is another significant increase.
This increase can be attributed to the recent openings of renowned fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Cartier at Dubai Duty Free. They are currently one of Dubai Duty Free’s top five luxury brands, along with Chanel and Gucci.
In the meantime, online sales in the first eight months totaled US$29 million, or 3% of all sales.
Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Dubai Duty Free – Colm McLoughlin
Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, commented on the current sales – “ We have had a fantastic year thus far, and I am happy to report that from January to August, we recovered over 80% of our business, while passenger recovery was only about 67% of 2019 levels.
Nearly 2,000 of our laid-off employees have now been called back, and our current staffing levels are approaching the Pre-Covid figures”
The FIFA World Cup, which begins in November, will increase traffic to Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA), which will handle an extra 30 return flights to Doha during the World Cup period.
We are about to enter a busy sales period for the last quarter.
There has been a significant increase in the category since the opening of the new fashion outlets, and we are continuing with our ongoing retail developments at Dubai International Airport (DXB).
Overall, we are optimistic that we will accomplish our goal by the end of December, which also happens to be our 39th anniversary,” continued McLoughlin.
Sales at DXB and AMIA departures, which make up 88% of all sales, have increased by 115% over the same period in the previous year, reaching US$927 million, while sales at Terminal 2 departures have increased by 59%.
As a result of the luxury boutiques, Concourse B’s overall sales have increased by 35% over the previous year, while sales in all Concourses have seen significant increases.
Over the next 18 months, Dubai Duty Free will keep examining ways to improve its retail offerings, which will include a complete renovation of the liquor and tobacco selection in Concourse B.
At Dubai Duty-Free, rehiring and recruitment efforts are ongoing, and as a result, 4,407 people, including 58 new Emirati hires, are now employed there.
The Dubai Duty-Free International Weekend, which will be held at the storied Newbury Racecourse on September 16 and 17, is one of the operation’s many upcoming events in the meantime.
The 29th Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup will take place on November 24 and 25, followed by the Dubai Duty Free Sailing League Regatta from November 30 through December 3, and the operation’s 39th anniversary, which will be celebrated on December 20.
Source – DDF
