Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (May his soul be seated on God’s right hand)
INTERNATIONAL. With profound sorrow, we report the passing of Colm McLoughlin, Dubai Duty Free’s long-time Executive Vice Chairman and CEO and one of travel retail’s greatest statesmen at age 81.
Colm, who retired on 31 May after precisely 55 years in the travel retail sector, passed late last night (30 October) in the UK after a short illness.
[From the Publishers: There has been an extraordinary outpouring of grief and respect from the travel retail community on The Moodie Davitt Report’s and Martin Moodie’s LinkedIn pages, bearing extraordinary testament to both Colm the man and Colm the great business achiever. Readers can leave their own message in either place; these will be passed on to Colm’s family.]
Colm was the driving force behind Dubai Duty Free’s rise from a start-up on 20 December 1983 to become the largest single airport duty-free operation in the world.
In a fulsome tribute, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: “With a heavy heart, we mourn the passing of Colm McLoughlin, a distinguished visionary whose dedication transformed Dubai Duty Free into a global icon over more than four decades. Colm was an inspiring and humble figure, one of the beautiful faces of Dubai and a brilliant mind with a kind and loving heart.”
Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Ramesh Cidambi said, “Colm was a great leader who built an award-winning retail business at Dubai Airport and steered its growth to a US$2 billion business with over 6,000 employees at the time of his retirement. He was a true friend who touched so many lives within the travel retail industry.
“I join our Chairman, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and all of our employees in sending our deepest condolences to Colm’s wife Breeda, his son Niall and his daughters Tyna and Mandy and all of their families. Our thoughts and prayers are with Breeda and the family at this very difficult time.”
Dubai Duty Free reflected on Colm’s status as a “well-known and much-loved figure in Dubai”. Famously, he was part of the original team from Aer Rianta who came to Dubai in July 1983 to set up the duty-free operation. His initial contract with the government of Dubai was for six months but he went on to run the business for over four decades.
He also continued to serve the Irish diaspora throughout his life in Dubai and was a recipient of the Irish Presidential Award in 2014 for his services to Ireland.
Colm also helped establish the Dubai Duty Free Foundation in 2004 and, as Dubai Duty Free noted, was “very proud of the work that was done to support 119 local and international charities”.
The company added in a statement: “Apart from the business acumen, Colm will be warmly remembered by many for his easy-going personality, his warmth, his generosity, extraordinary kindness and friendship. That will be his enduring legacy.”
The Moodie Davitt Report joins Dubai Duty Free and the global travel retail community in expressing our deepest condolences to Colm’s wife Breeda, daughters Tyna and Mandy, and son Niall and the wider McLoughlin family. ✈
Comment: I am shattered by the news of the loss of a friend, mentor, industry titan and great man of Ireland, writes Martin Moodie. Colm’s passing leaves an aching void, which right now feels unfillable as it will feel for all those who were close to him.
Words, my only forte in life, for once seem inadequate. I talk below of his professional achievements of which there were so many over such an extraordinarily sustained period. But I will most remember Colm for his human qualities, for his kindness, guidance, gentleness (laced, if he thought you needed it, with a velvet glove firmness), humour and wisdom.
On a pure business level it is almost impossible to overstate Colm’s contribution to the travel retail sector, to Dubai Duty Free and indeed to Dubai itself,
On 1 June 1969 he took up a post as Special Assistant to Freeport Shops General Manager Bill Maloney at Shannon Airport (the birthplace of the airport duty-free industry in 1947 under the leadership of Dr Brendan O’Regan), Ireland.
In later years he became synonymous with the extraordinary rise and rise of Dubai Duty Free to become the most famous travel retail brand on the planet. Yet when a group of Irish executives from state-owned Aer Rianta arrived in Dubai in October 1983 on a six-month consultancy project to advise the Dubai government on the creation of an airport duty-free enterprise, none surely could have envisaged what lay ahead.
A key member of that team was Colm McLoughlin. He came expecting a half-year stint in the desert sands and never left.
{The Moodie Davitt Report published this video tribute to Colm McLoughlin on 1 June 2019 as he celebrated his 50th anniversary in the travel retail industry}
When he first walked into Dubai International Airport all those years ago, what did Colm McLoughlin see? “It was a very small airport with just two conveyor belts,” he recalled in an interview with The Moodie Davitt Report. “It was massively congested with 3 million passengers going through a building that was built for just 750,000.” Last year Dubai International was the world’s busiest international airport.
“On this [airport] side of town there were no buildings, four or five hotels at most, a poor taxi service and little public social activity,” he remembered.
All that has changed. A new Dubai has emerged as a world powerhouse of tourism and of economic achievement, and Dubai Duty Free has played a pivotal role in putting the emirate on the map.
Dubai’s story is therefore very much a Colm McLoughlin story. Travel retail’s story is very much a Colm McLoughlin story. His loss will be deeply felt in the emirate, in Ireland, across our industry and all around the world by all those who in one way or another he influenced, guided or mentored.
Colm had immense respect for his fellow Irishman and sector pioneer Dr Brendan O’Regan, whose industry statesman mantle he would eventually take over and bear with such dignity. May you rest in peace dearest Colm. ✈
