Dubai Duty Free sales up 10% to Dh3.67B in H1 2018
dubai — Dubai Duty Free has announced a 10 per cent increase in sales for the first half of the year, with turnover reaching Dh3.671 billion and placing the operation well on track to reach Dh7.4 billion by the end of the year.
Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, said: “2018 has been a fantastic year for Dubai Duty Free so far. We have continuously grown our business and are happy to see a double digit increase for the first half. With new retail areas now operational and ongoing retail developments coming on stream at both Dubai Internation- al and Al Maktoum International, we are confident that we will reach the $2 billion mark at the end of December, which also marks our 35th anniversary.”
Accounting for 88 per cent of the total revenue, retail sales in Departures at DXB and Al Maktoum International Airport show an 11 per cent increase over the same period last year reaching Dh3.2 billion.
Meanwhile sales across all concourses have registered significant increases with overall sales in Concourse C in Terminal 3 up 60 per cent over last year, mainly as a result of new retail areas opened in recent months. In addition, Concourse A sales are up by 16 per cent, Terminal 2 Departure sales are up by 14 per cent, Concourse D sales are up by eight per cent, and Concourse B is up by six per cent.
Perfumes were among the top sales categories, accounting for 15 per cent of total sales and reaching Dh534.57 million. Other notable increases in sales were seen in the cosmetics segment which rose by 27 per cent, and electronics by 25 per cent year to date. For the first six months, Dubai Duty Free recorded 12,769,905 individual sales transactions with average daily sales of Dh20.28 million.
The ongoing major refurbishment of Concourse C, which features newly opened watches and electronics shops, will be completed by the end of the year and will cover a total of 4,700sqm. Meanwhile Al Maktoum International Airport Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) has also recently completed the redevelopment of the existing Departures Area, including a new and refurbished Gifts from Dubai, Electronics, and Perfumes & Cosmetics shops. By the end of the year, Dubai Duty Free at Al Maktoum International Airport will have grown to 4,500sqm in retail space, from the previous 2,500sqm.