Dubai Shopping Festival Turns Passengers Into Customers

“The influx of tourists during the Dubai Trade Festival has played an important role in turning passengers into customers,” said Colm McLaughlin, Executive Vice President of Dubai Duty Free Duty Free. “The festival, which attracts millions of visitors at the beginning of the year, has an impact on the growth of the retail sector as a whole.” “For Dubai Duty Free, an increase in tourist flow means an increase in the amount of spending that travelers make before heading to the city. Our task is to make sure that we have served about half of all passengers: when their number grows, the total sales volume also increases. Special offers and discounts are very well received by customers for all product groups, "added McLaughlin.

In his opinion, there is no doubt that trade festivals stimulate the growth of tourist flow in the emirate, where recreation, trade and cultural events go hand in hand. "The festival attracts whole families to vacation, which are an important target audience for Dubai," says Dubai Duty Free's top manager. Last January, 4.3 million people visited Dubai from countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Russia, Great Britain, France and Southeast Asia. Experts predict that this year the "festival tourist flow" will grow by 7-8%.

McLaughin believes that despite the fierce competition in the retail segment, the future of Dubai Duty Free looks very promising. Already today, the growth in the number of customers amounted to 10% compared to January 2012. The representative of Dubai Duty Free noted that the network will continue to expand the range of goods, which today is 70% represented by local manufacturers to support the emirate’s economy.

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