Dubai Duty Free On Track For $1.5 Billion Sales, Despite Missing Chinese Shoppers

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Dubai Duty Free of charge is forecasting a huge hike in income this 12 months assisted in section by a website traffic uplift at Dubai Intercontinental Airport (DXB)—and irrespective of superior-paying out Chinese passengers still hardly to be noticed.

The travel retailer—the major in the globe running from 1 core airport location—expects sales to reach $1.55 billion, sharply up on 2021’s $976 million. Last year’s figure was a bit much better than the forecast that Dubai Obligation Free’s main working officer Ramesh Cidambi gave Forbes.com in December and this year’s forecast also looks like it could be on the conservative side.

When the 2022 projection falls much limited of 2019’s record of just more than $2 billion, it is welcomed by the international vacation retail business as a signal that a rather potent airport retail rebound is doable this year. Also constructive is the reality that Dubai Responsibility Free’s product sales restoration in the 1st fifty percent of the year was back to 80% of 2019, forward of the passenger recovery which was 68% (of 2019) at the Emirates hub.

Talking to the regional marketplace during a webinar structured by the Middle East & Africa Responsibility Free of charge Affiliation (MEADFA) this 7 days, Cidambi said that there were various elements that have pushed the performance. They variety from a new concentration on the e-commerce channel (where product sales doubled amongst 2019 and 2020, and increased again last 12 months) to commonly higher paying out for every passenger.

Additional vacationers pre-planned their buys or purchased in greater volumes. This was partly because they have not been flying as considerably, but also to be certain they could get the products they wished as offer chain fears ended up popular and a ‘get it whilst you can’ mentality persisted. Cidambi mentioned: “Some of these issues are transitory but they are all serving to to hold expend per pax greater.”

Significantly East the outlier as regional gross sales get better

In the initially 50 percent of the calendar year, amid Dubai Duty Free’s 4 major regional marketplaces, income to Indian sub-continent tourists had been 1.7% ahead of the identical period in 2019 at $149 million Europe strike $126 million (just .6% driving H1 2019) and the Middle East was down 5.6% at $129 million.

Having said that, the Significantly East, the greatest region for Dubai Duty Free in 2019 with gross sales that calendar year of $188 million, remained incredibly subdued—by a huge 78% in the initial 50 %. Much of that was owing to lacking Chinese paying. Pre-pandemic Chinese tourists accounted for 4% of passengers at Dubai Global Airport, but 17% of Dubai Responsibility Free’s product sales.

A lesson in holding you nerve

“The loss of the Chinese experienced an impact on some makes extra than other folks,” explained Cidambi, citing those in the watches, cosmetics and skincare classes in distinct where by up to 40% of gross sales could go only to Chinese buyers. To deal with this, the first point Dubai Responsibility Cost-free did was to cut down the inventory of these manufacturers by 50 % over 6 to 12 months.

“However an crucial matter we also did was to continue with our retail improvement and invest in increasing the buying supply,” Cidambi explained. “That is what served us when the non-Chinese passengers came again.” These investments provided the construction of Cartier, Dior and Louis Vuitton boutiques, which have helped to preserve the airport’s luxury picture.

Cidambi mentioned: “There is a lesson below for vacation retail. When there is a crisis, you shouldn’t place the brakes on definitely almost everything. Just about every crisis, even a pandemic, eventually arrives to an finish.”

The approach has paid off most for the trend merchandise class. In the to start with 50 % of 2021, vogue took its share of revenue to 13% (from 6% in H1 2019) and it turned the third most important solution segment immediately after magnificence, and wines and spirits.

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