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29 March 2024

Indians are half of DDF Millennium millionaires

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

Are Indians the luckiest of all nationalities to be the winners at Dubai Duty Free or is it just their sheer number in the country that put them on top of the winners list?

According to Dubai Duty Free data, the list of Millennium Millionaire Winners since January 2000 shows that Indians topped the list of winners. Of 127 millionaires, 53 were Indians. Second on the list are British nationals. Nine of them have been Millennium Millionaire Winners since the said date. This was followed by UAE nationals (8 winners), Jordanian (6 winners), Lebanese, Germans and Pakistani s (with five winners), Americans and Canadians with 4 winners each.

“Our customers are a diverse mix of passengers from all over the world. Typically, airport passengers, who are familiar with the Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise Promotions, are regular buyers. Many customers who are buying the tickets are usually travelling /returning holiday makers. The biggest purchasers of the promotions and topping the winners’ lists are nationals of the following countries: India, UK, Pakistan, Lebanon, UAE, USA, Jordan, Kuwait,  Canada, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Philippines, Germany, Iran, Australia, Syria, Egypt, Italy and France to name a few. To-date, Dubai Duty Free has produced 127 winners of $1 million from 27 countries since the promotion was launched in 1999,” said a spokesperson at Dubai Duty Free.

However, people who have missed out feel that it takes to be very lucky to land a Dubai Duty Free prize.

“I was a regular buyer of coupons and raffles at Dubai Duty Free but never got lucky. After trying for a couple of years I gave up,” said Anjali Mehta, an Indian national in the UAE.

List of Dubai Duty Free Winners

MILLENNIUM MILLIONAIRE WINNERS BY NATIONALITY (from Jan. 2000)

1 INDIAN 53
2 UAE 8
3 BRITISH 9
4 JORDANIAN 6
5 LEBANESE 5
6 AMERICAN 4
7 CANADIAN 4
8 GERMAN 5
9 PAKISTANI 5
10 SAUDI ARABIA 3
11 BAHRAINI 2
12 FILIPINO 2
13 GREEK 2
14 OMANI 2
15 SOUTH AFRICAN 2
16 AUSTRALIAN 2
17 AUSTRIAN 1
18 CYPRIOT 1
19 MALAYSIAN 1
20 SWISS 2
21 SYRIAN 2
22 TANZANIAN 1
23 TURKISH 1
24 Bangladeshi 1
25 Iranian 1
26 Moroccan 1
27 Sri Lankan 1
Total 127

[Image courtesy: Shutterstock]