Dubai Duty Free sales cross Dh7b in '15

Dubai - The sales figure includes Duty Free sales, which reached Dh6.892 billion for the year.

Dubai Duty Free Group announced on Monday a sales turnover of Dh7.057 billion for 2015, slightly up compared to previous year's record-breaking sales of Dh6.999 billion.
The Dubai Duty Free Group incorporates the airport retail operation and its leisure division. The sales figure includes Duty Free sales, which reached Dh6.892 billion for the year.
Dubai Duty Free, which operates at both Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International, recorded its highest sales for the year in December 2015 when figures reached Dh721.87 million.
The December sales were fuelled by its 32nd anniversary celebrations when the operation offered a 25 per cent discount across a wide range of merchandise from December 18 to 20 and recorded Dh100.20 million over the 72-hour period.
Over the three days, the cash registers recorded a total of 402,000 sales transactions with nearly 207,000 sales transactions alone on December 20.
Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman, Dubai Duty Free Group, said 2015 had been a very good year and there is a lot to look forward to in 2016, including the opening of Concourse D at Dubai International.
"We have 7,000 square metres of retail operation in Concourse D and will be introducing some new brands and concepts there," said McLoughlin.
Dubai Duty Free recorded 26,848,832 sales transactions in 2015, which is an average of 73,558 sales transactions per day across both Dubai International and at Al Maktoum International.
Perfumes continued to be the highest selling category with annual sales topping Dh1.137 billion which represents 16.5 per cent of total annual sales.
Liquor and cigarettes followed, with sales of Dh1.069 billion and Dh589.67 million respectively.
Confectionery came in 4th place with sales amounting to Dh556.14 million, followed by gold at Dh549.32 million.
Departure sales, which account for 87 per cent of the total annual sales, reached Dh5.989 billion, while arrivals sales showed a six per cent increase over last year and accounted for 11 per cent of the total annual sales.
Terminal 2 recorded an 18 per cent increase in sales over last year to reach Dh639.52 million.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com