DDF, Chinese firm join hands to enhance tourists’ experience

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Dubai Duty Free (DDF) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent Holdings Limited, a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China, which will greatly enhance the Chinese visitors’ travel and shopping experiences at Dubai Duty Free.

The agreement aims to leverage Tencent’s expertise and digital platforms in China, while building upon Dubai Duty Free’s global status as a retail destination, in order to boost the retail operator’s integrated marketing outreach in China. The collaboration will also enhance the Chinese visitors’ travel experience in Dubai using Tencent’s “Social and Smart Retail Solutions”. These include but are not limited to WeChat Pay, WeChat Mini Program and Tencent Cloud. The co-operation will also deepen Dubai Duty Free’s insight into the Chinese travelers’ consumption behaviour.

The signing of the agreement took place earlier this year at Tencent Binhai Tower in Shenzhen, China and the ceremony was attended by Ramesh Cidambi, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Duty Free and Norman Tam, General Manager, Hong Kong and Taiwan Office, International Business Group, Tencent.

Commenting on the agreement, Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Dubai Duty Free said, “China is an important market for us and Dubai Duty Free is continually looking at ways that will further enhance our appeal to Chinese travelers. With its long-standing reputation for innovation, Tencent is an exciting partner for Dubai Duty Free and we look forward to working with them in the coming year.”

Ramesh Cidambi, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Duty Free added; “I was very impressed during my visit to the Tencent offices in Shenzhen and to see first-hand this remarkable success story. We believe that this collaboration with Tencent will dramatically increase our engagement with Chinese travelers, which is something we have been focused on for some time, and will provide our Chinese customers with product knowledge and insights that will enhance their travel experience in Dubai. We look forward to launching a number of future forward initiatives in the coming weeks.”

Norman Tam, General Manager, Hong Kong and Taiwan Office, International Business Group (IBG), Tencent said, “We are excited to partner with Dubai Duty Free to strengthen their marketing outreach efforts to consumers in China, with the Middle East being one of the major travel destinations among Chinese tourists.

Building on the success of our collaboration with Dubai Tourism, we are well-positioned to support Dubai Duty Free in understanding their consuming preferences and better connecting with Chinse travelers, leveraging our Social and Smart Retail Solutions’. We look forward to working closely with Dubai Duty Free to enrich the travel and shopping experience of Chinese tourists.”

With 1 billion monthly active users, Tencent-owned WeChat offers an excellent integrated platform to raise brand awareness among Chinese travelers. Tencent IBG’s “Social and Smart Retail Solutions” will help Dubai Duty Free optimize its return on media investments and reach out to key target audience segments.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, and founded in 1998, Tencent is a Chinese multinational investment holding conglomerate founded in 1998, whose subsidiaries specialise in various internet-related services and products, entertainment, artificial intelligence and technology both in China and globally.

Tencent’s mission is to “improve the quality of life through internet value-added services”. Guided by its “user oriented” business philosophy, Tencent achieves its mission via the delivery of integrated internet solutions to over 1 billion netizens. An industry leader and global pioneer of innovative, digital-based technology solutions, Tencent aims to provide platforms and services that connect everything”.

Founded in 1983, Dubai Duty Free recorded first-year sales of $20 million and has grown into one of the biggest travel retail operator in the world with sales turnover of $2.015 billion in 2018.

Now employing over 6,000 people, the operation has consistently raised the benchmark for airport retailing and it continues to grow. Dubai Duty Free currently operates some 38,000sqm of retail space at Dubai International Airport and 4,000 square metre at Al Maktoum International in Dubai South.

In addition to its retail operation, Dubai Duty Free operates a Leisure Division which includes The Irish Village, both in Garhoud and Riverland Dubai, The Century Village, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium and The Jumeirah Creekside Hotel.