Dubai Duty Free has created a new retail benchmark with the award-winning operation posting record monthly sales figures for October of Dhs102.6 million ($28.5 million) and announcing a new daily sales record set on November 1 at Dh4.36 million ($1.2 million).

The new monthly record surpasses that set in March of this year (Dhs90.7 million or $25 million) and represents a 59 per cent increase in sales over October 2001.

This year is proving to be an exceptional year for Dubai Duty Free, with the operation well on track to achieve its Dh1 billion ($280 million) annual sales target. Year-to-date figures have reached Dh876 million ($240), representing a 19 per cent increase in sales over the same period last year.

Commenting on the statistics, Colin McLoughlin, managing director of Dubai Duty Free said: "In October, the shopfloor sales surpassed those for the entire first year of operations (1984) when the annual turnover was Dh72.8 million ($20 million). The highest selling categories included perfumes and electronics. All the categories are growing well and in many cases exceeding their targets. With the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, 2002 coming up it is destined to be another memorable year for the Duty Free.''