LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
COLM MCLOUGHLIN
When Colm McLoughlin landed in Dubai from Ireland, the city neither had the world’s busiest international airport nor one of the most visited malls. But he started a retail revolution in the aviation space, building from scratch what is arguably one of the biggest duty-free operations in the world.
Dubai Duty Free, which was set up in 1983 and recorded sales of $20m in its first year, has since become a travel retail behemoth, with turnover reaching over $2bn in 2019 – pre-pandemic, with sales also hitting $697m in 2020 despite the Covid crisis.
As Dubai Duty Free’s executive vice chairman and CEO, McLoughlin – who has won multiple awards including the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award – has led its phenomenal growth, while also diversifying operations into hospitality via The Irish Village, The Century Village, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium and Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. The Irish Village – just like Gulf Business – is also celebrating its silver jubilee this year.
A keen philanthropist, McLoughlin also established the Dubai Duty Free Foundation in 2004 and since then has supported numerous local and overseas charities including Al Jalila Foundation, The Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs, Hand in Hand for Haiti and the construction of 32 houses in the DDF GK Village, located in the province of Leyte in Philippines – among others.
The award was accepted on his behalf by Salah Tahlak, Dubai Duty Free’s executive vice president.