SPECIAL FEATURE: DUBAI DUTY FREE


Right: DDF has introduced clear new signage in all of its stores.


staff are on standby, they’re all being paid in full. We have no prediction of how long this is going to go on for. If I was to guess I would say that we’re certainly going to be closed for the next month or so.” In June of this year, it was the turn


of Cidambi to open up on the subject of Covid-19 and the impacts it was having on the business. As a member of an esteemed panel


for TRBusiness’ second TRConnect webinar, ‘Customer Engagement in the post-Covid-19 Travel Retail Context’, Cidambi told participants that DDF was awaiting approval to restart operations after an inspection conducted on 2 June by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority. It was revealed just a day later that


the company had recommenced trading at Dubai International Concourse B West in the first phase of a staggered revival programme. DDF had submitted proposals to


relevant authorities concerning the safe re-opening of shops shortly after the Eid holiday period in May.


“We experienced the first effects of the Covid crisis towards the end of January; in the beginning, we thought it would be about a $100m hit to our business and then we realised the seriousness of the problem.”


Ramesh Cidambi, Chief Operating Officer, Dubai Duty Free


DDF currently operates around 180 shops over more than 40,000sqm of retail space across Dubai International and Al Maktoum International Airports.


Operations scale up In an insightful presentation made during the TRBusiness webinar, Cidambi took the opportunity to highlight the retail outlook for the coming months and shed important light on some of the steps the travel retailer is taking to mitigate against the damage caused by the coronavirus. “We experienced the first effects


of the Covid crisis towards the end of January; in the beginning, we thought it would be about a $100m hit to our business and then we realised the seriousness of the problem,” said Cidambi. “By the beginning of March, we


thought it was a $300m-$400m hit, then our shops finally stopped operating on the 25th March.” Given the significant geographical


spread of DDF’s customer base, the balance of sales between major source markets such as Europe,


Ramesh Cidambi to make keynote address at TRMarketplace


On Monday 28 September, Ramesh Cidambi, Chief Operating Officer for Dubai Duty Free, together with a panel of senior industry executives and thought- leaders, will help set the scene for the dynamic business week ahead in this introductory webinar. The keynote session will offer inspiring


ideas to help the industry overcome the new challenges it faces and offer realistic perspectives on how to lead a workforce through an unprecedented period of uncertainty. Under the theme “Embracing and


42 TOP 10 OPERATORS


leading through change”, the guest speakers will discuss changing consumer behaviour, the irreversible new global travel retail landscape and the evolution that businesses across the sector will need to embrace in order to adapt and survive, both through and after the global pandemic. Cidambi will talk specifically on Dubai


Duty Free’s key areas of investment for post pandemic retail; about its preparations for second/third waves (mid-pandemic and post-pandemic); DDF’s ecommerce and omnichannel


OCTOBER 2020


strategy; a new approach to partnership models; customer safety; store design; staff training; and customer insights on changes to shopping trends and sustainability.


the Far East, the Middle East and Indian subcontinent was fairly evenly distributed in the three months until the travel retailer’s shops shut. On 2 June, sales were 52% down


year-on-year. Around $400m worth of business had been done to date. For the remainder of the year, DDF estimated that turnover would increase by a further $200m to $300m on the $400m already accrued – dependent on pax levels. “For a low forecast, we think


we will finish the year with about $600m and in terms of a higher forecast, about $800m-$900m,” said Cidambi. “But a lot of this depends on the blocks to people travelling easily.” [Forecasts were made in June and may have altered since - Ed.] DDF resumed operations for


departing passengers at DXB Terminal 2 in June while reassuring customers that Concourse B East, Concourse C, Concourse D and Terminal 3 Arrivals Unit 3 would soon follow. In more good news, Dubai Airports welcomed the resumption of scheduled operations by 13 international carriers at DXB in July. «


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