Dubai Duty Free (DDF), the operator of retail and leisure outlets at Dubai and Al Maktoum international airports, has announced annual sales of US$1.85bn in 2016, a decrease of US$80m when compared with the US$1.93bn recorded the previous year.
In 2016, Dubai Duty Free opened more than 75,000ft² of retail in Concourse D at Dubai International, meaning that it now operates a total retail area of approximately 387,500ft² across both airports.
Perfumes continued to be the highest selling category with annual sales topping US$307m, which represents 16.55% of total annual sales. Liquor followed with sales of US$295m while cigarettes and tobacco came in third place with US$161m. Cosmetics came in fourth place with sales amounting to US$149m followed by confectionery with US$144m. Meanwhile, sales in departures outlets across the concourses accounted for 86.66% of the total annual sales at US$1.6bn.
Dubai Duty Free also recorded 27.119 million sales transactions for 2016, which is an average of 74,097 sales transactions per day across both Dubai International and at Al Maktoum international airports. The company also won 28 awards during the course of the year.
Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO, said, “Overall, it has been a good year for the operation. There is a lot to look forward to in 2017, including the improvement of our retail offer both in Dubai International Airport’s Concourse C and in Al Maktoum International Airport’s Passenger Terminal Building (AMIA PTB).
“In Concourse C, we have just opened our outlets in the area that links Concourse C to Concourse B, and we will fully renovate the retail areas in the rest of departures and apron levels of Concourse C over the course of the year.
“We are also looking forward to developing our DDF Leisure business. The Irish Village in Garhoud was voted the Irish Pub of the Year at the Irish Pubs Global Awards ceremony in Dublin, and we opened the second Irish Village in the Dubai Parks and Resorts complex in December 2016. The Jumeirah Creekside Hotel continues to do well, and you will see new food and beverage outlets in this hotel during the course of the year.”
Written by Dan Symonds