Dubai Duty Free announces eight-month turnover of $1.06 billion

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Dubai Duty Free recorded a 104 per cent year-on-year increase in sales for the first eight months of this year, hitting $1.06 billion.

The news aligns with the Duty Free objective to finish the year with a $1.6 billion profit after bouncing back from Covid-19.

Executive vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free Colm McLoughlin said: “We have had a fantastic year so far and I am pleased that we have recovered over 80 per cent of our business from January to August, whereas the passenger recovery is about 67 per cent of 2019 levels.”

The best-selling categories of the past eight months are perfumes, liquor, gold, cigarettes and tobacco, as well as electronics.

Perfume sales demonstrated an 89 per cent increase, with at least $186 million worth sold.

Duty Free’s fashion merchandise sales increased almost threefold, mainly due to the recent addition of several luxury brands to its portfolio, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Cartier, Chanel and Gucci.

“The opening of the new fashion outlets has resulted in a big increase in the category and we are also continuing with our ongoing retail developments at Dubai International Airport (DXB). All in all, we are confident that we will reach our target at the end of December, which also marks our 39th anniversary,” said Mr McLoughlin.

Meanwhile, gold sales surged by 181 per cent, netting $106 million.

In addition, cigarettes & tobacco accounted for 9 per cent of revenues, while electronics sales shot up by 79 per cent, totalling $81 million.

At the same time, online sales surpassed $29 million, making up 3 per cent of total sales.

Departures sales in DXB and AMIA, which made up 88 per cent of total sales, recorded a 115 per cent year-on-year increase between January and August to surge past $927 million.

“Exclusivity is also another key component and we are continuously working with suppliers to have regional first or DDF-only products for our customers. In addition, we will also continue to build on our digital presence,” said Mr McLoughlin

He added that the airport retailer rehired 2,000 of its workers, laid off during Covid-19 lockdowns, bringing the number of employees to 4,407.

 

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