UAE. Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is expecting an increase in sales of +50% in September as thousands of additional travellers surge into the emirate for Dubai 2003 – the annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The retailer has set up a toll-free number and increased its customer service section to help the delegates of Dubai 2003. The organisation is also supporting the government’s retail initiative – Forever Dubai – as a sponsor.
DDF is adding to its present 200 cash points to handle the rush. And it will offer two luxury cars – a black Audi and a Ferrari – as raffle prizes.
DDF senior manager for promotions and advertising Salah Hussain bin Tahlak said: “Due to the arrival of 16,000 additional guests, on top of the regular traffic, we expect the sales activities to go up by 50% during September. In fact, during the peak days, especially from September 17 to 26, we expect the sales to triple as most of the delegates will arrive and depart in this period.
“In July, DDF daily sales went up to US$1 million daily which has been a record high in its history. However, we are looking at US$1.5 million of average daily sales in September, due to the arrival of about 16,000 visitors,” he said.
“Currently our average daily sales have gone up to Dh5 million ($1.4 million) and could even touch US$2 million by the end of the year.”
Dubai International Airport serves about 16 million passengers a year. In 2002 it achieved sales of US$306 million, according to Generation DataBank – a figure that is expected to reach over US$350 million this year.
