CROATIA. DFS Airport Dubrovnik turned in an impressive retail performance last year with sales growth outstripping passenger growth.
Duty free sales rose +45.5% to €5.4 million, compared with €3.7 million the year before. International outbound passengers rose by +30.2% to 341,836 out of a total passenger base of 880,967.
Encouragingly, average spend per passenger rose +11.8% to €15.90. The total number of individual duty free transactions rose +46.7%, giving a store penetration rate of 59.89%, up from 53.13% in 2003.
Average spend per transaction (spend per customer) eased by 0.8% to €26.47.
Top outbound destinations by country were Germany (20.8%), France (20.2%), the UK (17.8%), Ireland (9.4%) and Belgium 5.6%.
The strong 2004 results continue the impressive comeback of DFS Airport Dubrovnik under the leadership of Manager Trade Department Niksa Milanovic. The business and the country’s tourism industry were devastated by the war in 1991 and 1992 when the airport was bombed and later occupied by the invading Yugoslav army. The international air terminal was reconstructed and extended in 1999 and in 2002 the duty free shop expanded.
Look out for a major profile of DFS Airport Dubrovnik on The Moodie Report in the summer.
