Former Dubai Duty Free chief Colm McLoughlin passes away at 81

Colm McLoughlin, who spearheaded the launch of Dubai Duty Free (DDF), passed away on Wednesday in the UK. The DDF confirmed the news to on Thursday. He was 81.

McLoughlin was a member of the original consultancy team from Aer Rianta, the Irish Airport Authority, which was contracted by the Dubai Government to launch the new duty free operation in 1983.

He retired in May this year as the executive vice chairman and CEO of DDF after 55 years in the travel retail industry.

Dubai Airports (DXB) – in a tweet on Thursday – described McLoughlin as “a distinguished leader and a beloved figure in the travel retail community.”

“Colm’s warmth, wisdom, and dedication over the decades have inspired many in our industry and beyond. Our deepest sympathies to his family and our friends at DDF. His memory and impact will long be cherished,” DXB added.

In his last face-to-face interview with after McLoughlin said he never thought about going anywhere else other Dubai.

“Many opportunities crossed my path, but I had no interest in them because I enjoyed Dubai very much and the freedom given to do my job,” he said, adding: “I have been here since the very beginning and in the industry for 55 years… I enjoyed the trust of Sheikh Mohammed (Dubai Ruler) and Sheikh Ahmed (chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, and chairman of Dubai Airports); so, I never seriously thought about going anywhere else.”

McLoughlin said that he clearly remembered the day DDF took the first Dh1 million in sales. “Now we take Dh20-Dh21 million every day.”

He added: “At the beginning, we were consciously told by Sheikh Mohammed that he wanted DDF to be part of the promotion and success of Dubai. Hence, we have been involved in various projects, sporting events and sponsorship. The kind of media coverage DDF generates is about $2 billion a year for Dubai.”

A true leader, McLoughlin attributed the success of DDF to all the staff. “Taking care of your staff is the most important aspect of operations, he said, adding: “We have not recruited a senior person from outside for many, many years. Our managers and supervisors are those that started at the ground level and were promoted internally and this policy we adhered to all the way through. I am delighted we rewarded the staff and we enjoyed the loyalty of staff.”

DDF also has a management committee – called “dream team” – which meets once a week to discuss and to come up with ideas.

Currently, DDF employs 5,700 staffers from 55 different countries and it achieved sales of Dh7.8 billion last year and 21.5 million transactions. It sold 55 million pieces of merchandise.

“We are expecting sales this year to be Dh8 billion. We see that doubling in the next 10 years and the number of employees going up to 8,000,” he said during the interview back in May.

McLoughlin started his career with Shannon Airport in Ireland – the first duty free shop in the world. A team of 10 people were invited to launch DDF in 1983. He was only visiting but he was asked to stay back and since then Dubai has been his home.

“The whole growth and attitude of government has been to make Dubai the best place to live and do business. When we were about to start in 1983, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed wanted it to be the best duty free in the world. I am very happy that we were able to achieve that,” McLoughlin poignantly underscored.