Abu Dhabi banks on repeat of summer success

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Summer sales at Abu Dhabi Duty Free rose 20% year-on-year in 2003 as the result of a major seasonal promotion campaign, and the operator is hoping for the same again in 2004

Abu Dhabi Duty Free (ADDF) has announced its major summer promotion, the ADDF Summer Fiesta, which will run from June 1 to August 31. The promotional programme follows on from the success of last year's Summer Adventure campaign, when sales in the period rose 20%, with strong support from suppliers.

Managing director Mohamed Mounib said: ?The Summer Fiesta will be very different from last year's Summer Adventure promotion, but will still be aimed at increasing penetration, increasing average passenger spend, and encouraging travel into and out of Abu Dhabi. Following extensive analysis of the results of last year's Summer Adventure campaign, we have decided to lower the entry level criteria in order to enable a larger number of our passengers to take part. We have carefully studied the profile of each shop in order to set the entry level for people to avail of the ?scratch and win? cards depending on the average spend per passenger in each shop.?

The ?scratch and win? format includes on-the-spot rewards and valuable prizes. Mounib added: ?We feel that by moving ahead from the raffle concept to the scratch and win ? which has never been done before in an airport ? we are giving our passengers a real sense of adventure and rewards, and we will ensure that every passenger is a winner.?

There will be daily prizes of three airline tickets, one to a European destination such as London, Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt, one to a Middle Eastern destination like Cairo or Beirut, and one to an Asian or sub-continent destination such as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bombay or Trivandrum. Other prizes will include five gold bars weighing 2.5g every day, Everswiss watches, fragrances, cosmetics, plus other gifts that have been developed especially for the Summer Fiesta, including caps, T-shirts, teddy bears, mugs and much more.

The airline tickets will be on both Gulf Air and the newly launched Etihad Airways, both of which have offered significant savings on fares to Abu Dhabi Duty Free as partners in the promotion. The tickets will be valid for up to one year after the end of the promotion.

The Summer Fiesta will also include a number of additional promotions including chances to win Nestlé products with purchases of Kit Kat, chances to win a luxury car with Pine Cigarettes, a luxury humidor with the World of Cigar shop, tickets to Paris with Evian and many more.

During the event, Abu Dhabi airport will be transformed through the use of themed decorations to create a festive feel around the terminal. There will be parachutes descending from the ceiling with gift-wrapped parcels, as well as hot air balloons with popular children's characters hanging from the ceiling.

There will also be a children's play area, colourful characters, games and gifts to create a real sense of fun and adventure.

Mounib continued: ?We will enter into a huge marketing and PR campaign to advertise the promotion locally and in some of the in-flight magazines, and during travel shows that ADDF will attend during the promotion, such as the Arabian Travel Market and the EIBTM in Geneva. A massive public relations campaign is planned whereby two major newspapers will sponsor the event and feature news and happenings every day for the customers. There will be news reporters covering the duty-free shopping complex every day to this end. We have designed a special stage for winners with highly technical sound and light effects that will create a real sense of excitement and fun.?