The current geo-political climate in the Middle East has had a marked impact on growth – from the Mediterranean up to the Gulf. The mid-term and long-term effects of this political and social unrest will be discussed at length, while industry insiders from the affected markets will give an update on how business has picked up in the latter part of the year.
Innovation will also be a key theme of this year’s programme. A number of sessions will look at how all stakeholders can create a brighter future for the business – be it though innovating the product mix, the retail design, the staff’s approach to the customer and even management’s approach to staff.
John Sime, Vice President Retail Services & General Manager Emirates High Street
Drawing on years of experience in the business and the region, Gary Chapman will assess the future of Middle East Aviation, looking at projected growth in the region and how the Middle East will evolve in the global aviation landscape. He will also provide an outlook on the potential for commercial revenues for both airlines and airports and provide his perspective on how the industry can best innovate to create a promising future.
Gary Chapman, President Group Services & DNATA, Emirates Group
North Africa and the Middle East have rarely been under the world’s media spotlights as they have in 2011. Nima Abu-Wardeh will aim to provide a deeper understanding of the implications of the wave of social & political unrest which has hit the region in recent months. She will look at the historical build-up to the current situation, assess possible future outcomes and the impact for business in the region, in particular the aviation industry.
Nima Abu-Wardeh, Presenter, BBC Middle East Business Report
In part one of “Business insider”, leaders from the region will discuss how the industry has been affected and has adapted to the political unrest across the Middle East and North Africa in the past twelve months. It will also explore how business has grown in some parts of the region despite the challenges.
Sherif Toulan, Business Development Manager, IDFS
Tom Byrne, General Manager, Muscat Duty Free
Garrett Coogan, General Manager, Bahrain Duty Free
Ignacio Salcedo, International Operations Deputy Director - Asia / Africa, Aldeasa
Maher Qassab, CEO, Jordan Airport Duty Free Shops
The second part of the session will explore the realities of the growth in the past year, despite the political and social unrest that has affected the region. Where some markets have been directly affected, others have inevitably benefitted. In this second part, the impact on domestic retail will also be discussed and panellists will assess the difference in the challenges faced by both travel retail and domestic retail operations in the region.
Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports
Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free
Dan Cappell, Senior Vice President Commercial, Abu Dhabi Airport Company
Keith Hunter, Senior Vice President, Qatar Duty Free
Eisa Adam Ibrahim, General Manager, Burjuman
This supplier led session will study new ways in which suppliers are bringing new concepts to the approach to managing categories in the airport retail environment. Based on their own research and analysis both P&G and Nestlé will demonstrate the tangible benefits to rethinking the category management in terms of design, layout and product choice, proposing innovation which can apply to any category and any retailer.
Alan Brennan, Customer Marketing Manager, Nestlé International Travel Retail
Uwe Faber, Global Category Manager, P&G Prestige
With the dynamic growth across the Middle East region, human resources management is a constant challenge. This session will look at some of the challenges involved with staff retention, training and motivation, all key to maintaining excellent customer service. Case-studies of best practice from within the region will illustrate some of the initiatives being deployed to ensure excellence in both customer and staff satisfaction.
Gunnar Heinemann, co-owner Gebr. Heinemann
Followed by panel with Rachel Green, Recruitment & Employee Development Manager, Dubai Duty Free & Erik Van der Veen, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Middle East, Dufry Sharjah
Helena Malfait, Sales Manager, Duty free markets, African & Eastern
Understanding the consumers' desires and intentions in travel retail is essential learning for all stakeholders. In this session, consumer research from TFWA's global airport travel retail consumer survey will provide insights into consumers' expressed purchasing behaviour and desires, while qualitative research carried out by Counter Intelligence Retail will look at the behaviour of travel retail consumers through observations of thousands of consumers using in-store cameras, monitoring their journey through the store.
Peter Mohn, Partner, Mind-set
Garry Stasiulevicuis, Managing Director, Counter Intelligence Retail
As consumers become more sophisticated, more demanding and more selective, duty free & travel retail has to anticipate, tempt and increasingly surprise consumers to retain and increase their spend. This session will provide insights into ways all stakeholders can challenge existing practices and bring about innovation, at all levels, to engage with consumers in new ways.
Lewis Allen, Director, Portland
Dan Hayter, Initium Onboard
Steve O’Connor, AerRianta Middle East / Delhi Duty Free
This panel session will look at the issues facing the industry association today, its current missions and future ambitions.
John Sime, MEDFA President and Vice President Retail Services & General Manager Emirates High Street.
Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free
Anthony Chalhoub, Chief Executive, Chalhoub Group
Sarah Branquinho, Business Relations & External Affairs Director, World Duty Free Group & President Designate, ETRC
Sunil Tuli, Managing Director Duty Free, Kingpower Group Hong Kong & President, APTRA
15/09/2011. Pre-registration will be open until November 10, with special hotel rates for delegates booking by October 15.
Read more23/08/2011. Analysis of recent Middle East developments and a focus on innovation will drive discussion at the MEDFA Conference 2011.
Read more07/12/2010. Pre-registration is now available for this year’s Middle East Duty Free Conference in Cairo, with some great benefits for early booking.
Read more20/10/2010. Record numbers of pre-registered visitors have signed up for MEDFA 2010, with the association’s board promising a challenging agenda.
Read moreMEDFA Conference offers several sponsorship opportunities at various levels throughout the conference and its social events. Improve your exposure to key regional and global players at these premium information-sharing, insight and networking events.
MEDFA's delegate profile comprises strong representation from travel retail operators and landlords as well as senior executives from the global premium brands industry.
For more details concerning the MEDFA Conference sponsorship opportunities, please contact Jane Grant or Micheline Enkiri at:
Pre-registration for the MEDFA Conference is open until 10 November.
Registration fee: 750 € (650 € for MEDFA/TFWA members)
By pre-registering you will gain:
On line pre-registration
Your company access codes are required.
To obtain them, please contact the registration department at medfaconference(at)tfwa.com
Paper registration
Please return it completed with payment to TFWA Registration Department:
By post
UES / TFWA - Immeuble SCOR
1 Avenue Du General De Gaulle
92074 PARIS LA DEFENSE CEDEX
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By email : medfaconference(at)tfwa.com
By fax : +33 1 73 72 91 17
Download the hotel form below and return it to one of MEDFA official hotels in Dubai Please note that rooms reserved after 15 October will be subject to availability.
For further details or questions on registration, please contact the Registration Department at medfaconference(at)tfwa.com
The reality of the duty free industry in the Middle East and the untapped opportunities in the region will come under the spotlight at this year's MEDFA conference, with a special focus on Egypt. For the first time, the annual conference will touch down outside the United Arab Emirates, at the prestigious Mena House Oberoi Hotel at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo.
Throughout the conference speakers and panellists will take a reality check on performance, achievements and challenges to the industry in the region.
A special focus will of course be provided on the Egyptian duty free industry with representatives from some of the key retailers at Egyptian airports. The African continent, one of the fastest growing regions in sales performance, will also receive special attention at this year's conference with a focus on two key markets, Kenya and South Africa.
Dermot Davitt, Executive Director, Deputy Publisher, The Moodie Report & René Carayol, CEO Inspired Leaders Network
The Egyptian economy has experienced tremendous growth in recent years and this growth is mirrored by the investment in the country's airport infrastructure. This session will explore the developments in Egypt's duty free and travel retail industry and the realities of the market. Through a panel of key Egyptian stakeholders, the session will look at new retail concepts, new terminal developments and special initiatives by retailers & suppliers in Egypt in recent months.
Ihsan Ismail Sadek, Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation (EHCAAN)
Nadia Rashad, Deputy General Manager, Cairo Airport Duty Free
Reda Metwally, Vice President Duty Free Egyptair
Michael Cashin, Project Director – Egypt Air Duty Free Shops Consultancy, Aer Rianta International (Middle East) W.L.L.
Sherif Toulan, Business Development Manager, IDF
Volker Wendefeuer, Executive Director, Cairo Airport Company
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The arrival of new super liners and the fast growth of low cost airlines in the Middle East are two phenomena which will both change the way people travel throughout the region and increase the number of passengers to and through the region. With orders for super carriers from Boeing and Airbus continuing, huge capacity growth is being planned for but is it sustainable? Where will the growth come from? What impact will this have on the region's airport and airport retail industry?
Aviation analyst David Huttner will provide a "big picture" overview of the Middle East aviation landscape, looking at who the major players are, how they are planning their growth, and who are likely to emerge as influential players in the future.
David Huttner, Senior Vice President, Nyras Ltd.
Are retailers and suppliers satisfied with sales performance? Can they take growth beyond footfall growth? How? Simple changes in processes, attitude and management style can have a sizeable impact on sales.
Retail consultant Alan O'Neill will discuss how retailers need to focus on sales as well as service and rethink the shop floor managers' role to encourage them to take responsibility for the bottom line. With case studies from both domestic and travel retail of how more proactive engagement can reap tangible rewards, this analysis promises to bring concrete, actionable learning points for all attendees.
Alan O'Neill, Founder and Managing Director, Kara Change Management
Anticipating crisis rather than dealing with it when it hits is paramount for an industry that is constantly at the mercy of health issues, security constraints and economic factors. Currency fluctuation is one economic factor which constantly affects both international travel and the cost of sale. This session will provide an insider financial analyst's perspective on where the dollar and euro currencies may be heading to help understand how business could be affected.
Keith Spinks, Secretary General, ETRC
Soma Rao, CFA, Managing Director, Head of EMEA Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities, J.P. Morgan
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How has the duty free industry developed and what will influence future growth? An overview of duty free in the Middle East will look at the industry from its beginnings to the present day, as well as where the future opportunities will lie, through airline development, economic growth, infrastructure investment and industry initiatives.
Michael Barrett, Conference & Research Manager, TFWA & Executive Officer, APTRA
Airports are increasingly getting tuned into the possibilities provided by technology. Integrating airport information systems with retailer POS systems to RFID tagging of passenger boarding or customer loyalty cards; these are just some of the topics which will be discussed to illustrate the untapped opportunities which could have a significant impact on the bottom line.
Michael Ibbitson, Vice President Information & Communication Systems, ADACChristina Cassotis, SH&E Vice President, Leader Airport Services
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With the arrival of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this year, it’s no surprise that half year growth rates grew from 4,5% in 2009 to over 24% in the first six months of this year. This session will reveal how operators in South Africa coped with and have benefited from such a huge influx of international arrivals and how they plan to maintain growth in the post-World Cup era. The session will also feature a consumer focus, through a survey carried out at South African airports earlier this year. Peter Mohn of M1NDSET Research will share the results of a consumer survey at both Cape Town and Johannesburg airports, providing a greater understanding of the preferences and behaviour of shoppers in South African duty free shops.
Selwyn Grimsley, Managing Director, Tourvest Duty Free
Dr Peter Mohn, Partner, M1NDSET
What is the story behind the success of duty free in the Middle East? How have the retailers and airport authorities positioned the duty free offer in the region? What is influencing such rapid growth in the region? René Carayol will explore some of the secrets behind the industry's rapid growth in the region, analysing some of elements which have lead to such a strong "duty free brand" in the Middle East and how retailers, airports and suppliers can help position the industry to travelling consumers to further enhance performance in the years to come.
René Carayol, CEO, Inspired Leaders Network.
She presents BBC World’s weekly business and finance programme, Middle East Business Report (MEBR) and was part of the team that set up the programme. She has reported, produced and presented programmes for Al Jazeera and Dubai’s Business Channel as well as BBC World.
Before joining MEBR, Nima was a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's Four Corners addressing Arab issues, and a guest on BBC World's Dateline London as a regional expert.
Nima is regarded as an opinion leader and in this capacity is approached by think-tanks, the corporate world and government organisations for her insight. She is also invited to give talks as well as participate in off-the-record discussions about the region.
Nima provides consultancy and media training to government institutions and the private sector. She has written opinion pieces for Forbes Arabia and has taught media courses at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates as a visiting lecturer.
Lewis joined Portland in May 2006 as Director of Environments and has over 20 years of design consultancy experience working for leading creative agencies in Europe and the U.S. He has a comprehensive track record of leading multi-disciplinary creative teams to design and deliver branded experiences for retail and leisure environments, communication graphics and exhibition spaces.
Lewis has developed a particular expertise in defining, designing and implementing strategic re-alignments for major brands across a broad range of consumer sectors and design disciplines. Currently he is leading a series of key projects for Diageo's Global Travel Retail Team. He has also led projects for Larnaca Duty Free (Cyprus), Aeroports de Paris, Luxottica, Westfield (UK), Ajmal (UAE) and Shoppers’ Stop department stores in India. Lewis was also involved in projects for The Nuance Group at Bangalore and Hyderabad airports in India.
Lewis is an avid writer of articles for key retail and marketing publications. He is a regular speaker at industry events and always relishes the opportunity to challenge and debate the burning topics of the day!
Sarah Branquinho is an active campaigner on duty-free and travel retail industry issues. After gaining industry support for the first Tax Free World Exhibition she served as Commercial Director until 1996 when she was appointed secretary general of the European Travel Research Foundation, managing the ambitious research projects which underpinned the lobby to save intra-EU duty free, and the EU-wide consumer mobilisation programme. Sarah subsequently joined BAA and its retail company World Duty Free, extending her remit to sister company Aldeasa following Autogrill’s acquisition of WDF. She is chairman of the UK Travel Retail Foundation, a member of the Supervisory and Managing Boards of ETRC and its President designate.
Tom has more than 18 years of progressively responsible experience managing successful travel retail businesses, predominately in the Middle East and also in Eastern Europe. He has been leading the Muscat Duty Free team since 2008.
Among his significant previous positions, Tom served as General Manager of Dufry Belgrade Serbia, Operations Manager of Beirut Duty Free Lebanon, Operations Manager of Kuwait Duty Free and has held senior retail roles in Pakistan, Bahrain and Russia all within the ARI group. He is a driven strategic thinker with great customer focus and team leading abilities.
Tom is a graduate of Stirling University Scotland, having been awarded an MBA in International Retailing.
Alan Brennan is an Irish national, with a 360 career in Travel Retail, which started with DFS in the Finance & Buying department across different product categories. After leaving DFS, he moved to a senior Sales and Marketing role with a leading UK based agency overseeing and managing the Pan European development of blue chip brands in the Liquor, Perfumery and Tobacco categories.
In 1999, he joined Nestlé ITR (NITR) as regional sales manager for Europe managing the development of Nestlé confectionery business during the post Duty Free abolition era. In 2001, he moved to Dubai in the U.A.E. to take up the role of regional business manager for the Middle East/Part Asia region. During his time in Dubai, he managed and drove the rapid development and growth of Nestlé business in this dynamic region, whilst completing a 2 year MBA with Leicester University in the UK.
Since late 2009, Alan has taken up a new position at NITR head-office in Switzerland to lead its global Customer Marketing department, managing the development of its Perfect Store™ category initiative, shopper research and in store visibility program.
Dan Cappell has experience on all three sides of the Trinity having spent 22 years with Nestle SA the last ten as General Manager of Nestle International Travel Retail before moving to the Middle East in 2002 as Deputy Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Duty Free & Inflight catering.
Dan joined Aer Rianta International Middle East in June 2006 as General Manager Operations and was responsible for Group procurement, commercial strategy and development across the region. Dan returned to Abu Dhabi Airport Company in December 2007 as Vice President Non Aero nautical revenue and business development and was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President Commercial in May this year. Dan cites playing golf badly, cooking and reading as his main forms of relaxation.
Anthony Chalhoub is currently joint Chief Executive Officer of the Chalhoub Group and General Manager of four luxury brand distribution companies in the region: Habchi & Chalhoub, the Louis Vuitton joint venture, MAC and Fitra.
It was in 1975 that Anthony joined the Group founded and managed by his father, immersing himself in business life by moving to Kuwait where his parents had already been working for several years developing Franco-Kuwaiti relations. He worked hard to promote and gain acceptance from the prominent names in perfumes, high fashion and jewelry.
Mindful of maintaining the image of the brands that placed their trust in him and to keep France's high profile in the Middle East; he has performed all his functions as Overseas Trade Counselor starting in 1991 and took an active part in the "France in Kuwait" exhibitions of 1991, 1994, 1996 and 2004.
Gary Chapman (ACA – New Zealand) has been a key member of the management team for over two decades.
In his current role - President (Group Services & dnata), Emirates Group - he is responsible for the global operations of dnata, the leading air services provider with businesses in 38 countries worldwide as well as a number of other associated company businesses within the Emirates Group. He is also responsible for the support functions of the Emirates Group (Finance, IT, Human Resources, Medical Services, Legal, Insurance, Performance Development).
Gary is Chairman of Maritime and Mercantile International LLC and dnata Singapore Pte Ltd, and a member of the board of directors for Emirates Flight Catering Co. LLC, Emirates CAE Flight Training, Premier Travel Inn Gulf LLC and dnata’s overseas ground handling operations.
Prior to joining the Emirates Group in 1989 Gary spent 12 years with a prominent Arab trading concern involved in construction and the provision of support services to the oil industry. His assignment postings included the Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Paris and Houston.
Garrett has worked in the duty free industry with Aer Rianta International since 1989. During this time he has held senior management positions in fast moving and environmentally challenging duty free operations in Russia and Ukrain . Since April 2011 he is the General Manager of the multi award winning Bahrain Duty Free.
Garrett is a dynamic, confident and visionary leader who recruits and inspires strong and experienced management teams. In conjunction with these teams he creates great places to work which become profitable duty free businesses. He believes strongly in maximizing customer value via clearly defined and communicated strategic market management. This gives all performance orientated team members a sense of purpose and direction which in turn will bring added shareholder value.
Isabelle moved to Jordan almost 3 years ago to contribute to the expansion of Amman International Airport, specifically in charge of all commercial developments and customer service, including the retail at the New Terminal under construction, due to open Next Summer.
A dedicated airport person, Isabelle originally joined Aéroports de Paris in 1992 and has been since then faithfully accompanying the great commercial changes of the Parisian group, occupying a range of positions within the travel retail division, marketing and international commercial development (Asia, Africa, Central America).
Proud to be a key element for the commercial and customer service enhancement of Queen Alia International airport, leading all current commercial tenders (from F&B to car parking as well as lounges and transit hotel) Isabelle is also intensely participating in the transfer of competencies to the local Jordanian team and leading them in structuring a comprehensive set of marketing tools to provide Amman Airport with the highest level of service.
Uwe Faber has worked for P&G for the past 15 years. He worked on diverse categories in DACH prior to entering the TR business. Initially responsible as area manager for UK/Ire, he later organized and led a Global Travel Retail Trade Marketing organization which largely determines P&G’s channel strategy. Following an interim Management assignment in the Middle East, Uwe was given Global Category Management and Shopper Insights responsibility for P&G Prestige Products.
Based in Geneva, he has developed a shopper based Category Management approach to the fragrance business that is being adopted by numerous top retailers around the world.
Combing shopper understanding and category POS data shared by retailers, he helps these to better profile their equity and win in their market place.
Rachael Green began her career in 1988 with UK food retailing giant, J Sainsbury, where she quickly found her calling in Training and became the Regional Training Manager for the group. She joined the head office of the Co-Operative Retail Services Group in 1997 where she was responsible for Management Development across the company. She later moved to Coca-Cola and Schweppes as Regional Training Manager.
Rachael moved to the Middle East and joined the HR Department of Dubai Duty Free in 2000 as Training Manager. In 2001 she was appointed Recruitment and Employee Development Manager.
During her time with the airport retailer, Rachael has been responsible for the set up of the training department and the implementation of several company-wide training and development programmes including Cultural Diversity, Selling Skills, Service and Leadership skills. She has also been involved with a number of other HR initiatives concerning employee engagement, performance management, elearning and coaching.
She has also overseen and driven the recruitment of thousands of shopfloor and back office employees, ensuring that the staff strengths are in line with Dubai Duty Free’s growth and expansion plans.
Dubai Duty Free currently employs 4,000 staff, representing 46 different nationalities.
Paul Griffiths is Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Airports, with the responsibility for the operation and development of Dubai International as well as the recently opened Dubai World Central.
Paul joined Dubai Airports as its first CEO in October 2007. Exactly a year later, on October 14, he orchestrated the flawless launch of Terminal 3 at Dubai International.
Prior to moving to Dubai, Paul was Managing Director of London’s Gatwick Airport, the second largest airport in the UK.
Before joining airport operator BAA in 2004, he spent 14 years with the Virgin Group, working closely with Sir Richard Branson as a Board Director of the Virgin Travel Group, embracing the commercial activities of both Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Trains. Prior to this, in the 1980s, he spent four years in Hong Kong developing the marketing, commercial planning and technology functions for the then start-up airline Dragonair.
Born in 1951, Gunnar Heinemann grew up in Hamburg.
After graduating from high school he attended the military service which was followed by his studies of Economics in Zurich and subsequent stays in London and Paris.
In November 1978 he entered Gebr. Heinemann as co-owner and is today general partner and member of the Gebr. Heinemann board.
He is married with 2 sons.
Mr Keith Hunter joined Qatar Airways in October 2008 as the Senior Vice President of their Duty Free business in the Doha International Airport. Keith is also responsible for the onboard Duty Free business of Qatar Airways, one of the fastest growing airlines and operating one of the youngest fleets in the world.
Eisa Adam Ibrahim is a graduate of Business Studies from University of Sudan. He started off his career in manufacturing, and went on to advertising / marketing to organizing and selling exhibition spaces.
He then shifted his career focus to the shopping mall industry making a debut with Sabco, in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, in the year 1988 over to Al Harthy Complex, in Muscat, gained potential knowledge into all the intricacies of a shopping center, and went on to assume the position of Mall Manager at the Al Ghurair Centre, and now is the General Manager of Burjuman Centre & Al Reef Mall.
As the General Manager of BurJuman Centre, he has worked extensively, endlessly putting his heart and soul over the years into developing this mall as second to none; today, it is due to his expertise in operations, marketing and administration that BurJuman stands as a retail icon with the image of a better class of shopping and which has redefined the shopping experience in Dubai.
Head of Retail Partnerships, Initium Onboard
David Maddison heads up Initium Onboard’s Retail Partnerships Division. Previously, he was the International Sales Manager for BAA’s Airport Express Alliance, the trade sales and marketing alliance for the Heathrow and Gatwick Express Air-Rail links and was responsible for the concept and successful implementation of “virtual” stock free in-flight sales activities of both services with major airlines operating into London. He has spent over two decades in the aviation industry, much of that time with Qantas Airways and OAG.
Helena moved to Dubai eight years ago and has been working since 2004 for African + Eastern. Her first role with A&E was in the on-trade channel as a wine sales executive, and she has since moved into the travel retail division. She was appointed Sales manager - travel retail in 2009. In this capacity she looks after all travel retail customers in the UAE – with the biggest customer being Dubai Duty Free. Helena recently completed the WSET Wine Diploma Level, and now runs a range of wine trainings for travel retail customers and runs WSET courses up to advanced level.
Originally from Belgium, Helena began her career in the wine industry in South Africa, in sales & marketing. Once back from South Africa, she worked for a media agency in Russia, Switzerland, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan and Qatar. Helena was brought up exposed to many different European languages and is fluent in 5 languages.
Galway man Colm McLoughlin began his retailing career in London in the 1960’s working for the popular high-street chain of Woolworths, before moving back to Ireland to work for Shannon Duty Free. As General Manager of Shannon Duty Free, Colm was part of a team of ten from Aer Rianta (the Irish Airport Authority) who moved to Dubai in 1983 at the request of the Dubai Government, to set up Dubai Duty Free.
Following the successful opening of Dubai Duty Free in 1983, Colm was asked to remain as General Manager of the start-up operation, which in its opening year had a turnover of US$20 million. Colm later became the Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free, which is currently the largest single airport retailer in the world (in terms of turnover) with sales of US$1.27 billion in 2010. Employing 4,000 staff, Dubai Duty Free is widely regarded for having set the benchmark for the duty free industry in the region.
In July 2011, Colm was named Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free and its subsidiary businesses, which include The Aviation Club, The Irish Village, The Century Village and the Dubai Tennis Stadium; home to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Colm’s remit also includes the soon-to-open Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, located on the Aviation Club grounds, which was developed by Dubai Duty Free and will be managed by the Jumeirah Group.
Under Colm’s direction Dubai Duty Free has become a retailing giant and the recipient of some 200 industry awards. During the course of his 42 years in the duty free industry, Colm himself has been honored with several personal awards.
Dr. Peter Mohn (42) graduated as a Psychologist and earned a Ph.D. in Business Psychology at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Peter is of Norwegian origin, has lived in Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, UK and Germany and lives in Switzerland since 2002. Peter has been working for various leading global market research agencies since 1993 and has been in top management positions since 2000. He has been specializing in Travel Retail research since 2004 and consults various leading brands as well as shop operators in this field.
Based at Lake Geneva, m1nd-set is specialized in Travel Retail and Airport marketing research & consulting on a global basis. m1nd-set conducts consumer research at airports, at border shops, on ferries and cruises on over 60 markets worldwide for global Travel Retail brands as well as operators, airports etc. m1nd-set conducts quantitative and qualitative research on many different subjects, such as Travel Retail shopping motivation & behaviour, mystery shopping, brand awareness and evaluation, price elasticity (conjoint surveys), promotion effectiveness, observation of shoppers, travel retail exclusive product testing, segmentation surveys etc.
Glen Morgan moved to Abu Dhabi two years ago when he joined luxury travel retailer DFS as Vice President of Retail Operations. An experienced retailer, he began his career with Marks & Spencer in the UK where he held a number of positions in various stores over his 14 years of service.
In 2002, Glen joined M.H. Al Shaya where he held several key management roles – the last of which was as Senior Operations Manager for Debenhams, Middle East where he was responsible for 20 stores across six Middle East countries. He was the General Manager of M.A.P Luxury Division Indonesia, where he was responsible for luxury brands such as Harvey Nichols, Armani, Ferragamo, Loewe, and Max Mara, prior to joining DFS Abu Dhabi.
Steve was appointed CEO of Delhi Duty Free in April 2011 where he is responsible for all aspects of the business. Since its inception Delhi Duty Free has grown significantly, outperforming projections on a monthly basics and are well above the 2011 actual sales.
Prior to this position, Steve held numerous top management positions with duty free operations around the Middle East, under ARI-ME management. He was General Manager/CEO of Bahrain Duty Free Shops, between 2007 and 2011 where he drove a complete overhaul of all aspects of the business. He has also headed up operations for Aer Rianta International in Oman, Pakistan and Russia. Steve started his career in the hotel, leisure and catering business in Ireland in the early 80s. He gained experience in airport and airline catering in Ireland as well as hotel and industrial catering in the Middle East before joining Aer Rianta in 1996.
John Sime is the MEDFA president and Vice president retail Services & General Manager emirates High Street a wholly owned subsidiary of Emirates Airline.
John has been employed by Emirates since 1997 and is tasked with the development of the companies on-board retail programme and the operation of a global rewards platform for Skywards members. Before joining Emirates John held positions with several major Duty Free operators including Aer Rianta International and Harding Bros. John has worked in most Duty Free environments including Cross Channel Ferries, Cruise Lines, Airports and Airlines.
Garry Stasiulevicuis is the founder and Managing Director of Counter Intelligence Retail (CIR), a leading research and category development agency dedicated to Travel Retail.
Having gained broad reaching experience in various senior positions working for some of the world’s leading retailers and brand owners, Stasiulevicuis then set up Counter Intelligence. His vision was to provide the travel retail industry with the latest market intelligence, useable insight, clear strategic direction and retailing best practice techniques. All the elements that form the building blocks needed for creating amazing shopping experiences.
Stasiulevicuis is dedicated to providing real insight, from real consumers in real environments. He believes this knowledge of shopper and passenger behaviours is the key to creating the captivating landscape for which Travel Retail continually strives.
Counter Intelligence Retail has project experience in more than 70 airports across the world, face to face interviews with 300,000 passengers and shoppers and the insight from 170,000 detailed shopper observations. Working directly with the leading brand owners and operators in all regions, the company has delivered wide-ranging category advice and leading insights that have laid the foundations for the creation of irresistible store environments while spearheading business growth in all categories for retailers and brands across the globe.
Roland Stieger joined Travel Retail in July 2011 as the Head of Sales at Nestlé ITR. Upon graduating from university in 1998, he joined Nestlé's international management trainee program and has since been posted in several countries across Asia.
After the first assignment in Pakistan as a sales trainee and subsequently confectionery brand manager, he moved on to Indonesia to head the CCSD and Trade Marketing department. He was then called to the Corporate Head Office to be the liaison with ASEAN markets and China and was tasked with the development of Nestlè's corporate strategy to address the low-income consumer opportunity. The next assignment was in Thailand as the business director for the dairy and coffee creamer division.
He has implemented category management projects in a number of countries and categories with various international customers including Tesco, Carrefour and Casino.
Roland holds a masters degree of the University of St.Gallen and is a Swiss national. He is currently based in Vevey.
IDF Cairo act as Duty Free retailers, distributors and ship chandlers in Egypt. Sherif joined the company, founded by his father Kamal Toulan, in 2003 after graduating from the American University in Cairo. He started out as Business Development Coordinator until 2005 and is now responsible for managing all new projects within the company. He has acquired several airport retail concessions for IDF and is currently working on developing IDF's domestic subsidiary Global Brands. Sherif is an active member of the American and the German Chamber of Commerce in Cairo.
Before joining King Power in April 2003, Sunil spent over twelve years with the Weitnauer Group (now Dufry) as Chief Operating Offi cer Asia Pacific and Middle East, Managing Director for Wietnauer Singapore and General Manager for Scotts Weitnauer, Travellers Duty Free and Sincere Watch Duty Free. Between 1984 and 1990 Sunil was General Manager Duty Free at the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). He is a board member of companies in Singapore, UK, France and New Zealand and was elected President of APTRA in 2007.
Erik was born in Rotterdam in 1966 and graduated Business Economics in 1989 at the Erasmus University. He accumulated huge commercial strategic experience during positions at companies as Foot Locker, Levi Strauss and Asics, as well on retail as on the wholesale part of the business. Erik moved into travel retail with Dufry Eurasia, based in Sharjah U.A.E., in June 2007. At present time, Erik is leading Dufry’s operations in the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific, where his main focus has been, is and will be, people. It is all about people. Erik believes that if you are able to keep your people productive and happy, you will go a long way!
Dermot Davitt is an experienced editor and commentator working in the travel retail media. He joined The Moodie Report in April 2006 as Deputy Publisher and Editor of the company's Digital Print Division. Previously he spent 10 years with trade magazine Duty-Free News International, six of those years as Editor-in-Chief. He is based in Galway, Ireland
John joined Aer Rianta in 1977 having worked with two American Multinationals, Bechtel and Merck Inc. He went to Dubai in 1983 as part of the team that set up Dubai Duty Free and stayed on as Deputy General Manager until 1990.
He then joined Aer Rianta International and held the position of Director and General Manager at Moscow Duty Free which was then ARI's largest business unit. In 1992 he transferred to Bahrain as General Manager of Bahrain Duty Free. The following year he was instrumental in establishing Aer Rianta International Middle East and held the position of Managing Director until he retired in December 2010. During John’s time at ARIME it grew to become the largest international operator in the Middle East with the greatest geographical footprint and turnover just short of one billion US Dollars.
John was instrumental in establishing MEDFA and was elected its first President in 2001. He has spoken at a number of trade conferences including ACI, The Trinity Forum, TFWA Asia Pacific & GATE ONE2ONE and MEDFA.
