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Setting new milestones for airport retailing

Employing around 6,000 people, Dubai Duty Free has consistently raised the benchmark for airport retailing in the Middle East.

Dubai Duty Free opened for business on December 20, 1983 and has become a highly recognised global brand setting new retail milestones. The operation is the single largest airport retailer in the world in terms of turnover and expected to achieve sales of $1.9 billion in 2014.

Employing around 6,000 people, the operation has consistently raised the benchmark for airport retailers in the Middle East. Currently operating over 26,000 square metres of retail space at Dubai International Airport (DIA), the retail footprint will expand by a further 7,000 square metres with the opening of Concourse D in 2015. This new concourse will cover some 65,0000 square metres and will be the home to 100 airlines that currently operate from DIA’s Terminal 1, Concourse C. Meanwhile, Dubai Duty Free’s retail operation at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (AMI-DWC), which opened in October last year, covers some 2,500 square metres.

Over the years, Dubai Duty Free has received some 450 awards that bear testimony to the operation’s retail success including being named the Frontier Airport Retailer of the Year in Single Location, Gulf Business Industry Awards for Retail Company of the Year and UAE Company of the Year, Business Traveller Middle East Award for Best Duty Free Shopping, and the DFNI Global Awards for Travel-Retail Excellence for Best Airport Travel Retailer of the Year and Best New Shop Opening among others.

In 2014 alone, Dubai Duty Free’s Executive Vice-Chairman, Colm McLoughlin was honoured at the CEO Middle East Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Business. Organised by ITP Publishing, this award recognises his achievements and leadership skills during his distinguished career with Dubai Duty Free.

Significantly, Colm was named as a recipient of the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Awards 2014 in the Business and Education category, making him one of a select group of people and the first Irish person living in the UAE to be recognised by the Irish government for his outstanding contribution to Irish business and communities abroad. The award was presented by the Irish President, Michael D. Higgins at Aras an Uchtarain, the official presidential residence in Dublin in October.

While the successful running of the shopfloor is a major focus for Dubai Duty Free, the operation is highly committed to promoting Dubai through a series of high level sporting events including the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and reaches a global audience of 400 million TV viewers.

Meanwhile, Dubai Duty Free’s Leisure Division includes The Irish Village, The Century Village and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium; home to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Located on the same site in Garhoud, the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, which encompasses the Aviation Club, is owned and developed by Dubai Duty Free and is managed by the Jumeirah Group.

CHARITABLE ORGANISATION

In October 2004, Dubai Duty Free launched the Dubai Duty Free Foundation, a charitable body founded under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, and with Colm McLoughlin as Chairman of the board. The Foundation, which aims to raise funds for worthy causes with a particular emphasis on causes that directly benefit children, has since donated funds to several charities, both at home and abroad.

The many charitable initiatives supported over the years include the opening of the $1.5 million Dubai Duty Free Sports Complex at Lycée Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable in Haiti, as part of the operation’s support to the travel retail industry-led Hand in Hand for Haiti initiative. The school was built as a humanitarian response to the catastrophic Haitian earthquake of January 2010.

Following the devastating typhoon ‘Haiyan’ that hit the Philippines in November 2013, Dubai Duty Free funded the constructions of 32 houses to support the housing project of ‘Gawad Kalinga’ in Leyte to be completed this year.

To date, the Foundation has supported 34 local and 49 overseas charities since 2004, a clear manifestation of Dubai Duty Free’s ongoing commitment to the community.