Dubai Duty Free has recorded a 104% increase in sales for the first eight months of 2022, with turnover reaching US$1.06 billion, placing the operation well on track to reach its target of US$1.6 billion by year end.
Perfumes, Liquor, Gold, Cigarettes & Tobacco and Electronics retained the top five category positions with Perfumes showing an 89% increase amounting to US$186 million, while Liquor, which account for 16% of total sales, reached US$168 million. Gold sales increased by 181% over the same period last year with sales amounting to US$106 million. Cigarettes & Tobacco reached US$98 million and accounted for 9% of sales while Electronics rose by 79% reaching sales of US$81 million.
Another notable increase was seen in the Fashion category, which rose from US$41 to US$130 million. This increase can be credited to Dubai Duty Free’s recent openings of big-name fashion brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Cartier. Along with Chanel and Gucci, they are now among the top five luxury brands at Dubai Duty Free.
Meanwhile, online sales reached US$29 million and accounted for 3% of total sales in the first 8 months.
Commenting on the current sales, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free said: “We have had a fantastic year so far and I am pleased that we have recovered over 80% of our business from January to August, whereas the passenger recovery is about 67% of 2019 levels. We have now recalled almost 2,000 of our laid off staff and our current staffing levels are getting closer to the Pre-Covid figures.
“We are heading into a busy sales period for the last quarter and with the upcoming FIFA World Cup starting in November, this will further boost traffic to Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) which will handle an additional 30 return flights to Doha during the World Cup period. 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,” added McLoughlin.
Departures sales in DXB and AMIA, which account for 88% of total sales, show an 115% increase over the same period last year reaching US$927 million, while Terminal 2 Departure sales are up by 59%. Meanwhile sales across all Concourses have registered significant increases with overall sales in Concourse B up 35% over last year, mainly due to the luxury boutiques.
Dubai Duty Free will continue to look at its retail improvements over the next 18 months including a full renovation of the Liquor and Tobacco offer in Concourse B.
Meanwhile, rehiring and recruitment at Dubai Duty Free continues bringing the level of employees up to 4,407, which includes 58 new Emirati recruits..
In the meantime, the operation is continuing with its busy events and promotional calendar, which includes the Dubai Duty Free International Weekend taking place at the historic Newbury Racecourse on 16th and 17th September. This will be followed by the 29th edition of the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup on 24th and 25th November, the Dubai Duty Free Sailing League Regatta from 30th November to 3rd December and the Dubai Duty Free 39th Anniversary which the operation will celebrate on 20th December.
