Dubai Duty Free achieves all-time record sales

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) achieved an all-time sales record of more than AED 7.88 billion ($2.16 billion) for 2023.

It marks a 24.39 per cent increase over the previous year and 6.4 per cent up on pre-pandemic in 2019.

December finished with record monthly sales of AED 807.6 million ($221 million), an 8.37 per cent increase compared to 2022.

Sales in December were further fuelled by DDF's 40th-anniversary celebrations featuring a 25 per cent discount on December 20, which resulted in a shopping spree of AED 54.1 million for 24 hours.

Reflecting on the year, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, said: "It has been a fantastic year and I would like to thank our Chairman H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum for his unwavering support. Thanks also to our great team of staff, our suppliers, the media and, of course, our customers, for their contribution to our continued growth and success over four decades."

DDF recorded over 20 million sales transactions throughout the year, or an average of 55,000 sales transactions per day, while a staggering 55.2 million units of merchandise were sold.

The top five selling categories for the year were perfumes (AED 1.366 billion), followed by liquor (AED 1.130 billion), gold (AED 773.506 million), cigarettes & tobacco (AED 745.694 million) and electronics (AED 628 million).

Online sales accounted for 2 per cent of the overall tally for 2023 and reached AED 164 million.

Sales in departure areas across the operation reached AED 7.062 billion, accounting for 90 per cent of total annual sales, while arrivals sales totalled AED 612 million, representing 8 per cent of the total.

In terms of top source markets for Dubai Duty Free sales, India is number one (AED 973 million), followed by Russia (AED 759 million), China (AED 564 million), Saudi Arabia (AED 512 million), and the UK (AED 373 million).

Meanwhile, in line with the growth of operations, the rehiring and recruitment of staff continued, with DDF's total employee count now standing at 5,500.

Looking ahead, Dubai Duty Free will continue to enhance its retail operation, which includes major refurbishment plans in Concourse B to be completed in early 2024.

It's also working on the scheduled renovations of three shops in the arrivals section in the first quarter of 2024, with construction to continue until the second to third quarter of the year.

Concourse A (2 perfumes and cosmetics shops and fashion area) will also be refurbished starting in the second quarter of 2024 and will be finished in early to mid-2025 with three new boutiques of major fashion brands.

In addition, DDF will continue to maintain its busy events and promotional calendar, which includes the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships from February 18 to March 2.