Dubai Duty Free announced a 24% increase in sales for 2007, reaching just over AU1billion.
Whilst this seems good, it has to be viewed within the context of around an 18% increase in passenger numbers and an estimated 8% inflation effect for the year.
Core duty free categories (fragrances, liquor, gold, electronics, tobacco products) accounted for 55% of total sales. Fragrances were the highest selling category with annual sales of AUD137m, followed by liquor (AUD130m), gold (AUS109m), electronics (AUD87m) and tobacco products (AUD78m).
Accurate pax numbers are not yet available for 2007, but if it is estimated that 2007 passenger numbers have increased by 18%, then the Duty Free PSR for Dubai is around AUD30.34.
There were an average of 52,000 sales transactions per day, an increase of 18% compared to 2006, which would give a penetration rate of approx 57% for duty free purchasing (note that individuals can undertake multiple transactions and hence this is not a reflection of the proportion of pax purchasing duty free).
During 2007, Dubai Duty Free increased its floor space from 7,000m2 to 15,000m2. With the opening of Concourse 2 and Terminal 3 in May 2008, their retail space will increase by a further 5,000 m2 in departures and 3,000 m2 in two shops in arrivals (T3).
