Abu Dhabi delivers record early year growth

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Abu Dhabi Duty Free has returned the best results in its 20-year history for the first four months of 2004

Abu Dhabi Duty Free has returned the best results in its 20-year history for the first four months of 2004. While results for the period last year were down as a result of war in Iraq and SARS, the numbers still bear positive comparison to the years from 1999 to 2002.

Retail sales were up 32.7% over 2002 with all the leading sectors recording growth. Fragrances and cosmetics were up 38.05%, liquor and tobacco rose 30.2%, food and chocolate rose 39.6%, gold rose 28.24% and electronics recorded a rise of 35.7%.

Average spend is up by 13.32% (or over $4) while the new airline Etihad has helped boost passenger numbers by 30%. The passenger forecast for 2004 is for 5.2m against 4.3m in 2003.

Managing director Mohamed Mounib said the company was continuing to focus heavily on driving penetration, increasing conversion to purchase and average spend.

The Summer Fiesta campaign, an evolution of the hugely successful award-winning Summer Adventure in 2003, should also drive the business further across these core benchmarks, he added.

?The support that we are receiving from our supply partners has been outstanding and we are looking forward to successful summer trading period for all parties,? he added.

In other news, Abu Dhabi Duty Free has been rated as the second best duty-free shopping complex in the world by the Skytrax Airport of the Year Survey 2004.

Skytrax Surveys is the market research division of Skytrax Research, the UK-based specialist aviation advisor.

The Skytrax Star Rating programme for the world airport industry surveyed more than 475 airports worldwide on a wide range of service sectors. The rankings were awarded in various categories such as Best Airport Worldwide (covering transportation, arrivals and departures, security, immigration and customs, terminal and business facilities), Best Duty Free shopping, Best Dining and so on.

The duty-free rankings were awarded based upon a number of factors including information about shopping facilities, exciting/stimulating shopping environment, selection of shop outlets, prices of international brand items in shops, quality of staff service in shops and language abilities of staff.