Dubai Duty Free continues to play a pivotal role in offering visitors from around the world a fantastic glimpse of Dubai Shopping Festivals offerings even before they step outside of the airport.

As one of the Strategic Partners of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), and the organisers of DSF, Dubai Duty Frees continuous support in promoting the festival through amazing retail offers and exciting promotions bears testimony to the success of this long-standing partnership over the last many years. Such long-term collaboration has given Dubais retail sector a strong boost, as tourists of diverse nationalities make the most of the amazing shopping experiences that Dubai has to offer during this shopping extravaganza.

Speaking to DFREs Media Centre, Mr. Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free, highlighted the changes and the impact DSF has had on Dubai Duty Free over the last two decades.

From the inception of Dubai Duty Free in 1983, one of our key objectives has been to promote Dubai on a regional and global stage and to help establish the emirate as a leading business, leisure, shopping and sporting destination. The influx of tourists during the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) has played an important role in turning flyers into buyers in the emirate. Growing from a sales turnover of US$20 million in 1983 to US$1.917 billion in 2014, Dubai Duty Free is very much part of the fabric of Dubais growth as a world-class destination.

On the importance of the DSF period in terms of Dubai Duty Frees success, Mr. McLoughlin said: DSF, which attracts so many visitors to Dubai during the beginning of the year, plays an important role in driving the retail sector across the board. For Dubai Duty Free, the additional visitors mean that we have an opportunity to increase the spend per head of those travellers and to convert flyers into buyers. Our job is to ensure that we sell to around 50 per cent of all travellers, so with the increase in passengers, our sales should increase and this is the case.

In terms of the special initiatives, promotions and customer engagement strategies that Dubai Duty Free has implemented for the 20th edition of DSF, Mr. McLoughlin, said: Dubai Duty Free has a number of initiatives in place to maximize the potentials and opportunities brought about by the impact of the consumers during this annual shopping festival.

Commenting on the role of DSF in contributing to the overall economic development of Dubai and promoting the emirate around the world in the last 20 years, Mr. McLoughlin, said:, There is no doubt that tourism is driven a great deal by the retail offers in Dubai, in addition to the fantastic hospitality, leisure and cultural events that go hand in hand with the shopping experience. The fact that there is such a comprehensive calendar of events for visitors during DSF makes the festival a key attraction for families in particular, which is an important target audience for Dubai.

Asked to summarise in one phrase what DSF meant to him, he said it was the worlds most loved shopping and entertainment bonanza!

In terms of the popular products or items that people are purchasing during DSF, Mr. McLoughlin, said that the categories of products do not alter dramatically during DSF. The main products sold include perfumes and cosmetics, gold, confectionery, fashion items and electronics.

Speaking about Dubai Duty Frees future plans, he said, Our plans obviously go hand in hand with the development at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Dubai World Central. The opening of Concourse D at Dubai International this year will add a new dimension to our retail offer of 26,000 square metres. With Concourse D, we will add a further 7,000 square metres of retail space there with a different layout and some new brands.

The long-term plans for Al Maktoum International, where we currently have 2,500 square metres of retail space, will be carried out in two phases. The first phase involves the construction of two satellite buildings, with a collective capacity of 120 million passengers annually, which will accommodate 100 A380 aircraft at any one time and which will take between six to eight years to complete at a cost US$32 billion. We will ultimately cover around 80,000 square metres when the final project is completed.

The Media Centre of DFRE also had the opportunity to interview Mr. Salah Tahlak, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, Dubai Duty Free, who spoke about the evolving trends in spending habits, new forms of payment methods, and spender demographics.

Shopping habits have changed over the last two decades. The core Duty Free items are still important but there is an increasing demand for electronics, perfumes and cosmetics, and high-end fashion, has been noticeable, with the growth of Chinese and Russian travellers driving the sale of luxury goods. We have 570 Chinese staff. In a previous study we noted that Chinese shoppers at Dubai Duty Free accounted for 4% of shoppers but their spend accounted for 12% of sales.

Asked if there was a major shift towards electronic payments away from the traditional payment method of cash, for local, regional and international visitors, he said: We have definitely seen a move away from cash payments and for the first time recently, credit and debit card payments overtook cash payments at Dubai Duty Free. In Dubai Duty Free, we accept all major credit cards including the Chinese Union Pay Card which is widely used by the Chinese worldwide, and since 2011 we have been accepting the Chinese Yuan currency. In September 2014, we launched our online portal for flyers to order goods before they arrive at the airport which is well-received.

Commenting on the biggest spenders at DDF, he said: Our boarding card analysis shows that shoppers from China, India, the UK, Russia and GCC countries make up our top five spenders. Some of this is due to the sheer numbers of passengers India and the UK are our top two destination countries, and the GCC countries contribute big numbers. Chinese passengers spend nearly eight times above their numbers, and Russian-speaking travellers, nearly three times as much.

In terms of promotions, events and prizes rolled out during DSF, Mr. Tahlak, said: Dubai Duty Free has various enticing offers and promotional strategies during the DSF period that are sure to attract travelers. Examples of which are: multi-buy promotions, Gift with Purchases (GWPs), cross brands and price-off promotions, which have always been the key promotional drivers in delivering volume turn-over.