Dubai Duty Free marked its 38th anniversary in style as it welcomed passengers travelling through Dubai International Airport (DXB) with a special 25 per cent discount on a wide range of merchandise over three days from Dec.18 to 20. The 72 hours anniversary sale, which was also extended to its Home Delivery customers and Click & Collect offer, resulted in sales of Dhs87.16 million ($23.878 million) which is 24.51 per cent higher than the same period last year.

From a category point of view, Perfumes was the highest selling category with sales of Dhs23.007 million ($6.303 million) during the three-day period followed by Liquor with sales of Dhs10.900 million ($2.986 million) and Watches with sales of Dhs9.950 million ($2.726 million). Ticket sales for Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise combined reached a staggering Dhs8.665 million ($2.374 million), making it the 4th most popular category for the first time while Cosmetics took the 5th spot with sales of Dhs5.676 million ($1.555 million).

Commenting on the success of the 38th anniversary, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free said: “We are very happy to see such a great result during our annual anniversary sale, both in store and online. I join our Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, in thanking our customers who joined us in this celebration and our staff, who did a great job in serving them.”

Over the three-day period a total of 165,924 sales transactions were recorded in store.

Meanwhile, online sales during the same period topped Dhs8.761 million ($2.400 million) with a total of 7,134 combined orders received through Click & Collect and Home Delivery service as well as tickets for the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise promotions purchased online.

The Dubai Duty Free executive team was welcomed by its employees on their arrival to Concourse B of Dubai International Airport for the ceremonial cake cutting. During the period, perfumes and cosmetics remain as top selling categories during the 3-day anniversary sale.

Ticket sales for Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise reached a staggering Dhs8.665 million ($2.374 million), making it the 4th most popular category for the first time. Watches took the third spot as top selling category with sales of Dhs9.950 million ($2.726 million).

The Dubai Duty Free Anniversary offer was first introduced when the airport retailer marked its 20th Anniversary in 2003 and continues to be popular over what is traditionally a busy travel period.To mark the anniversary day itself (Dec.20), the Dubai Duty Free team headed to Terminal 3’s Concourse C and Control Tower for a traditional cake cutting before proceeding to Concourse B for another celebration where they conducted the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draws.Meanwhile the Dubai Duty Free’s Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin, Chief Operating Officer, Ramesh Cidambi, Salah Tahlak, Executive Vice President - Corporate Services, Sinead El Sibai, SVP – Marketing, Mona Al Ali, SVP – Human Resources, Michael Schmidt, SVP – Retail, Sharon Beecham, SVP - Purchasing and Zayed Al Shebli, SVP - Loss Prevention and Corporate Security conducted the draw for Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire Series 376 and 377.