Dubai Duty Free’s total sales over three days from December 18-20 to commemorate its 39th anniversary reached US$29.4 million.

The 72-hour anniversary sale offered a special 25 per cent discount on a wide range of merchandise. The sale was also extended to its Home Delivery customers and Click and Collect offer.

It resulted in a spending spree at the two airports where DDF operates – Dubai International and Al Maktoum International – which was 23 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Perfumes was the highest selling category with sales of US$7.3 million during the three-day period, followed by liquor at US$4.1 million, and watches at US$2.8 million.

Cosmetics took the fourth spot with sales of US$2 million, while ticket sales for Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire reached US$1.9 million, making it the fifth most popular category.

Meanwhile, online sales during the three-day period topped US$2.2 million with a total of 6,122 combined orders received through Click and Collect and Home Delivery service as well as tickets for the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise promotions purchased online.

Statistics were also shared about the logistics that went into supporting the mega sale. During the 39th anniversary sale, Dubai Duty Free’s Distribution Centre issued 1,940 pallets of merchandise and conducted 175 trips from the warehouse to the airport.

The total number of picks in the warehouse during this period was 22,278 for 850,455 units of merchandise, with the highest picks on December 18 for 342,354 units of merchandise.

Over the three-day period, the cash registers recorded a total of 205,956 sales transactions with 67,837 transactions alone on December 20.

The Dubai Duty Free Anniversary offer was first introduced when the airport retailer marked its 20th anniversary back in 2003.

“We are very happy to have achieved such great sales over the three-day anniversary and that so many travelers had the opportunity to avail of the special discount that we offer,” said Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free.

In an exclusive interview conducted recently, McLoughlin told Business Traveller, “Overall, the recovery is doing well and based on the indication and forecast for the traffic growth at the airport, we will likely see a return to 2019 figures in 2024. Currently, we have recovered over 83 per cent of our business for the year to date from January to October, whereas the passenger recovery is about 72 per cent of 2019 levels.”

dubaidutyfree.com