DUBAI: Annual sales clocked up by Dubai Duty Free (DDF) hit 7.3 billion dirhams ($2 billion) on Saturday morning, the emirate’s airport retailer said in a statement.
The sales figure marks a record for DDF, which reported 7.05 billion dirhams in sales in 2017, although the rate of growth has slowed. The retailer reported sales worth 6.6 billion dirhams in 2016.
“2018 has been a good year for Dubai Duty Free, and we have been building up toward the $2 billion sales figure all year,” said Colm McLoughlin, CEO of Dubai Duty Free.
“We have been tracking the sales figures hour by hour over the past couple of days and it is fantastic to have achieved this figure before the end of the year.”
A Danish couple, purchasing a 1,999 dirham camera, pushed DDF through the $2 billion barrier — and were presented with a $2,000 gift card.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said last month that he expected more than 90 million passengers to use Dubai International Airport this year.
