Dubai celebrates anniversary with new record

John Rimmer

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Sales at Dubai Duty Free on its 21st birthday yesterday reached Dh11.3m ($3.1m), a new daily record

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) set a new daily sales record yesterday as the retailer celebrated its 21st anniversary. Sales reached Dh11.3m ($3.1m), beating the record of Dh7.3m ($2m) set three days earlier. A spokesperson for DDF told RavenFox.com that trading had been ?quite phenomenal?, especially compared with last year's anniversary sales of $1.9m. The number of transactions recorded by the operator yesterday reached 45,000 compared with a typical total of 30,000.

DDF managing director Colm McLoughlin said: ?We are delighted with the new daily sales record and the record number of transactions. This is a great way to mark the closing of an incredible year which will see the operation reach sales of Dh1.8bn ($490m).?

Sales yesterday were driven by the 21% discount offered to all travellers to celebrate DDF's anniversary. ?The offer was a way of saying thank you to our customers and we are delighted that it was so well received,? said McLoughlin. ?I would like to take this opportunity to thank Department of Civil Aviation president HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum for his continuing support and to thank all our Dubai Duty Free staff who work so hard to ensure the operation's continued success.?

The watches and clocks category posted the highest turnover at Dubai yesterday, with sales reaching Dh2.5m ($681,200), up by 37% on December 20 2003. Sales of fragrances were up by 54% year-on-year, totalling Dh1.8m ($490,460). Beauty house Guerlain is among the suppliers to have pledged to donate yesterday's sales of its products to the Dubai Duty Free Foundation, the retailer's charitable organisation.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, HH Sheikh Ahmed officially opened DDF's new fashion area, which features branded corners for Paul Smith, Givenchy, Hugo Boss, Lanvin, Polo Ralph Lauren, Hermès, Frey Wille and Christian Dior jewellery.