Turning flyers into buyers

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The rise and rise of DUBAI DUTY FREE S COLM MCLOUGHLIN AQUAFIL S GIULIO BONAZZI PTC SOFTWARE S JAMES HEPPELMANN MATADOR S STEFAN ROSINA K2 SPORT GROUP'S ROBERT MARCOVITCH CHRYSLER S 300 SRT8:

'HELICOPTER MONEY' Think the unthinkable RICHARD BRANSON hours 48Singapore Schaeffler Group s Klaus Rosenfeld GROWTH MASTER As featured in The CEO Magazine For more info visit theceomagazine.

1 The rise and rise of DUBAI DUTY FREE S COLM MCLOUGHLIN AQUAFIL S GIULIO BONAZZI PTC SOFTWARE S JAMES HEPPELMANN MATADOR S STEFAN ROSINA K2 SPORT GROUP'S ROBERT MARCOVITCH CHRYSLER S 300 SRT8: AMERICAN MUSCLE AT ITS BEST JAVA IS THE NEW BALI EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW Rethinking business: the customer is wrong TALENT AND TENACITY The 2016 Global Female Leaders Summit 'HELICOPTER MONEY' Think the unthinkable RICHARD BRANSON hours 48Singapore Schaeffler Group s Klaus Rosenfeld GROWTH MASTER As featured in The CEO Magazine For more info visit theceomagazine.com Turning flyers into buyers With a turnover of almost US$2 billion per year, Dubai Duty Free has managed to tempt many travellers into its stores and put profits back into the global community. IMAGES DUBAI DUTY FREE & NICK ENGLAND Dubai Duty Free Distribution Centre Name Colm McLoughlin Company Dubai Duty Free Position Executive Vice Chairman & CEO HQ Dubai, UAE Employees 6,

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW In 2014, Dubai International Airport officially surpassed London s Heathrow Airport to become the world s busiest, with 70.

Servicing just 12 million passengers annually in 2000, both the airport and its duty free offering have grown dramatically.

There is an attitude that everything should be number one in the world. Colm McLoughlin There has been a lot of organic growth, says Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin.

2 EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW In 2014, Dubai International Airport officially surpassed London s Heathrow Airport to become the world s busiest, with 70.4 million passengers walking through its doors. Poised to take advantage of all these business and leisure travellers is Dubai Duty Free the only duty free stores at both of Dubai s airports. Servicing just 12 million passengers annually in 2000, both the airport and its duty free offering have grown dramatically. Our duty free operation is owned by the Government of Dubai, and there is a very positive attitude among the government members here that everything in Dubai succeeds. There is an attitude that everything should be number one in the world. Colm McLoughlin There has been a lot of organic growth, says Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin. This year we opened a new concourse at the airport, called Concourse D, where we put an additional 7,000 square metres of duty free space. Concourse D takes Dubai Duty Free to an all new level, with a bright and spacious customer-friendly retail space centrally located close to a range of restaurants and the departure gates. The new retail offer expanded the store s luxury portfolio, and introduced new brands, including Tiffany & Co, Burberry, and Cartier. By 2020 we expect the traffic to have grown considerably, says Colm. Last year traffic at Dubai International Airport (DIA) was 78 million. This year they are forecasting 85 million passengers. Last year our business was just bordering US$2 billion, but by 2020 we expect our business to be US$3 billion and we expect our service to have grown from the present figure of 34,000 square metres to 80,000 square metres by around To get an idea of how much money these lucrative square metres generate, you need to look no further than the company s anniversary celebration last year. Dubai Duty Free marked its thirty-second anniversary with a special 25 per cent HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, and Colm McLoughlin at the inauguration of Concourse D discount on a wide range of merchandise over three days which began at midnight on 17 December and continued until midnight on the operation s anniversary day on 20 December, Total sales for the three days topped AED178.5 million (US$48.5 million). An operation this large needs welltrained, well-organised staff. For Colm, low employee turnover is important, too. We are happy to say that for each of the last three years our staff turnover has been 6.3 or 6.4 per cent, he says. We think that is vital to offer the proper service to our customers. When Dubai Duty Free first opened 32 years ago, it employed just 100 management and staff, and, astonishingly, 31 of those original employees still work there today. We have an internal training section in our HR department, and we have a policy of internal promotion within our company many of our senior people are long-serving staff who started with us in a junior capacity several years ago. The business now employs more than 6,000 people in what have become tightly-held positions. Dubai Duty Free is clearly an employee of choice not only for locals, but people from all over the world. Last year it received 81,500 unsolicited job applications, however only two positions became available one in retail and one in warehousing. The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and Colm McLoughlin accepting the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish abroad (Business and Education category) in 2014 Colm and Breeda McLoughlin with Novak Djokovic during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships ATP Player Party 2016 Colm attributes a lot of the business success to the passion and the competence of his staff, but there are other factors as well. Our duty free operation is owned by the Government of Dubai, and there is a very positive attitude among the government members here that everything in Dubai succeeds. There is an attitude that everything we do should be number one in the world. So everybody is on the right foot, right from the beginning. We have tremendous support from the government. Our Chairman, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, gives full support to the duty free business. I also think we do our marketing as well as anybody in the duty free industry and, of course, we have the greatest team of staff in the whole industry. I think they are the main reasons for our success. The drive to be the very best has led to Dubai Duty Free receiving many accolades over the years more than 500 awards for excellence, in fact. Colm is very proud of the fact that it is repeatedly described as the retailer of the year, and has received many accolades himself, including the Frontier Lifetime Achievement Award, the Galway Millennium Man of the Year, the Most Distinguished Employee Award from the Dubai Government Excellence Awards, and the Businessman of the Year from the Middle East Business Awards. In October 2014, Colm was honoured with a prestigious Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award in the Business and Education category, presented by the Irish President Michael D. Higgins at an official ceremony held at Aras an Uchtarain, the official presidential residence in Dublin. This honour made him one of a select group of people, and the first Irish person living in the UAE to be recognised by the Irish government for his outstanding contribution to Irish business and communities abroad. High praise indeed, however Colm is perhaps more proud of the awards that Dubai Duty Free won at the World Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Congress held earlier this year the Best Environment Friendly Project Award and the Best Corporate We have developed an integrated partnership approach with the Dubai Duty Free team led by Colm McLoughlin, which is based on mutual respect, trust, creativity, and innovation, and this has been the driver of our ongoing accomplishments in the Middle East. - Alan Brennan, Global Head of Sales, Nestlé International Travel Retail 38 39

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW Gold Shop Concourse B The Dubai Duty Free management and staff supported The Moodie Report Great Travel Retail Educathlon education, we have restored the eye sight of over 800,000

cleft palates, Colm says. And there are several other things that we do in our foundation.

We provided funds to build a sports complex in Haiti and also a school after the region was damaged by earthquake, which was funded by the Duty Free Industry.

We fund the social responsibility programs by transferring a small percentage of our top line, with His Highness s approval, into the Dubai Duty Free Foundation every year.

4 EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW Gold Shop Concourse B The Dubai Duty Free management and staff supported The Moodie Report Great Travel Retail Educathlon education, we have restored the eye sight of over 800,000 people, we have rebuilt medical clinics in various parts of the world, and provided funds for 4,000 surgeries in the Philippines, through the Smile Train charity organisation, for people born with cleft palates, Colm says. And there are several other things that we do in our foundation. Last year, we handed over 32 houses to people who lost their homes in the typhoon in one of the Southern Islands of the Philippines. We provided funds to build a sports complex in Haiti and also a school after the region was damaged by earthquake, which was funded by the Duty Free Industry. We also helped to rebuild a village in Sri Lanka when the tsunami wiped out so many homes. We fund the social responsibility programs by transferring a small percentage of our top line, with His Highness s approval, into the Dubai Duty Free Foundation every year. Colm McLoughlin Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices Award. Twelve years ago, the Dubai Duty Free Foundation was established to oversee the business s social responsibility and charity activities. Since then, it has helped more than 34 local and 51 overseas charities, and taken part in many green initiatives, including the United Nation environmental program s Clean Up the World campaign, Clean Up Arabia, and Clean Up UAE. We fund the social responsibility programs by transferring a small percentage of our top line, with His Highness s approval, into the Dubai Duty Free Foundation every year. Some of the things we have done is fund children who require special needs This sense of social responsibility has been embraced by the staff at Dubai Duty Free, who have raised extra funds themselves by taking part in initiatives such as The Moodie Report Great Travel Retail Educathlon, which saw more than 3,000 staff raise US$46,000 to support a group of regional educational charities that had been nominated by leading travel retailers, including SOS Children s Village in Brazil, Alia Primary School in Bahrain, Lotus Flower Trust in India, Lycée Jean Baptiste Point du Sable in Haiti, and Karatas Village School in Turkey. While I don t want to call it our duty, we highly value Corporate Social Responsibility and consider it a very important thing for the company to do, Colm explains. 42

5 We want to continue representing Dubai as a terrific place to visit, as a terrific place to do business, and as a terrific place to holiday. Colm McLoughlin Have the perfect gift in your portfolio: THE LINDT SWISS MASTERPIECES The Swiss Masterpieces Pralines are the greatest pride of our LINDT Master Chocolatiers who have created them with unmatched passion, dedication and use of their full craftsmanship since AVAILABLE IN DUBAI DUTY FREE. PREFERRED PARTNER SINCE 10 YEARS.

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW My vision for Dubai Duty Free is to remain right at the forefront of the industry, and to hold our position as the number one operator in the world.

International horse racing has also proved to be an excellent marketing medium for Dubai Duty Free, capturing global media attention with the Dubai Duty Free Stakes in April, the Dubai Duty Free

The company is also the title sponsor of one of the biggest races in Europe, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, held at the Curragh Racecourse in Ireland each June.

6 EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW My vision for Dubai Duty Free is to remain right at the forefront of the industry, and to hold our position as the number one operator in the world. Colm McLoughlin Stan Wawrinka celebrates his first win in Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Colm McLoughlin presents Rory McIlroy with his trophy for winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2016 International horse racing has also proved to be an excellent marketing medium for Dubai Duty Free, capturing global media attention with the Dubai Duty Free Stakes in April, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup (Ascot) in August, and the Dubai Duty Free International Raceday in September, which are all part of the operation s racing sponsorship in the UK. The company is also the title sponsor of one of the biggest races in Europe, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, held at the Curragh Racecourse in Ireland each June. It also sponsors popular speed cat racing tournament, the XCAT World Series. Our vision, Colm explains, apart from growing to US$3 billion over the next six-to-seven years, is that we want to continue representing Dubai as a terrific place to visit, as a terrific place to do business, and as a terrific place to holiday. G E N E R O S I T Y I N E V E R Y D RO P Wit h 85 u n ique fl avour note s, ever y t ast e is a n ew e x p e rienc e. FP advert Pernod Ricard (Europe) As well as the Dubai Duty Free retail business, Colm runs its many subsidiary companies as well. These include the The Irish Village, The Century Village, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, and the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. The tennis stadium plays host to the annual Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which comprises a women s WTA Premier 5 tournament played back-to-back with a men s ATP World Tour Series 500 Tournament attracting players like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and world number one Novak Djokovic, who competed this year. In fact, whether its tennis, golf, horse racing, or boating, Dubai Duty Free has used sponsorship of major sporting events as part of its marketing strategy since 1983, and also sees it as a way of attracting more travellers to Dubai. A supporter of golf for many years, it is proud to sponsor the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the Ladies European Tour Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, both held every year at the prestigious Emirates Golf Club, as well as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, hosted by the Rory Foundation, which took place at the K Club in County Kildare this year. We also want whatever we do to be an example to the rest of the duty free industry. We want other duty free operators to do what we do and get involved in some kind of foundation, or charitable events, and give back to the community. It would also be great to see them involved in marketing through sponsoring major sporting events or whatever other events they consider suitable for their business. My vision for Dubai Duty Free is to remain right at the forefront of the industry, and to hold our position as the number one operator in the world. 46

HOW DID IT ALL STARTED?

HOW DID IT ALL STARTED? DUBAI DUTY FREE Responsible for the duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. One of the biggest travel retail operator in the world.