Record sales at Abu Dhabi Duty Free last year reflected the record number of passengers using Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Sales grew 13 per cent to Dh912.7 million compared with Dh809.5m in 2012, with December – its most successful month – alone pulling in Dh92m. Passenger numbers at Abu Dhabi airport increased by 12.4 per cent last year to 16.5 million compared with 2012.
"Abu Dhabi Duty Free increased the choice of luxury brands and product offerings for customers, and together with some inspired promotional campaigns, it has seen the money spent on duty free products increase throughout the year," said Mohammed Al Bulooki, the chief commercial officer of Abu Dhabi Airports.
Must-have items for travellers included beauty products, fragrances, watches, gold and diamonds.
Abu Dhabi Duty Free has been introducing new outlets ahead of its planned expansion in the Midfield Terminal Building, which will open for passengers in 2017, catering to more than 30 million of them a year.
The commercial retail area in the new terminal will total 28,000 square metres.
“The new Midfield Terminal Building will offer once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for ambitious and innovative retailers,” said Mr Al Bulooki.
Abu Dhabi Duty Free’s rising sales figures are part of a retail bonanza across the UAE, with Dubai Duty Free reporting sales of Dh6.65 billion last year, an increase of 11.4 per cent compared with Dh5.90bn the previous year.
Away from the airports, malls have also been reporting record footfalls and revenues.
Euromonitor International, the London-based market intelligence firm, said retailing continues to boom thanks to a rise in tourism and consumer confidence. “This is mainly due to strong infrastructure, government support to endure better touristic attractions, benefiting grocery and non-grocery retailers in the country,” said Fatemah Sherif, a research analyst at Euromonitor.
Dubai’s Oasis Centre said its visitor numbers increased 10 per cent and its sales jumped 30 per cent during the Dubai Shopping Festival last month, exceeding its projected sales growth of 20 per cent.
Emaar, the operator of The Dubai Mall, said visitor numbers increased 15 per cent to more than 75 million last year, making it the world’s most visited destination for the third consecutive year.
The financial consulting firm Deloitte said in its 2014 Global Powers of Retailing report the Middle East is the world’s second best performing retail region with in terms of growth and showed why regional investors are willing to follow retail recording a healthy return on assets.
“Latin American retailers led the way with 15 per cent retail revenue growth followed by retailers in the Middle East/Africa region at 13.5 per cent,” said James Babb, the clients and industries leader at Deloitte Middle East.
“Moreover, in Latin America and Africa/Middle East, strong growth continued to yield above-average profitability. In 2012, Latin America retailers produced an industry-leading 4.9 per cent net profit margin, and retailers in the Africa/Middle East region realised a 7.2 per cent return on assets.”
ascott@thenational.ae
