INTERNATIONAL. The Duty Free World Council (DFWC) today marked the relaunch of its Academy with the reveal of an updated website and details of a new training course.
The course – available in English and Spanish – is based on the DFWC’s Code of Conduct for the Responsible Sale of Confectionery, Chocolate, and Biscuits in Duty Free and Travel Retail.
The Code of Conduct for the category was created earlier this year by the Council with input from some of the industry’s leading brands and retailers. The new course has been created to assist staff to interpret and implement the Code, in response to industry requests.
The training is free of charge and all frontline retail staff, brand owner staff involved in supplying the industry and any third party service providers they engage are invited to complete it.
DFWC President Sarah Branquinho said: “Today is a proud day for the Council and the Academy. Significant effort has been expended in the past months to find a new strategic partner, ACI World, and create a new Academy and this is the first in a series of new courses to be developed.
“Enrolment is free of charge, and I want to thank the category sponsors, Mondelez International, Nestlé and The Hershey Company. Without their financial support and category insights, development of a ‘free to user’ course would not have been possible.”
She added: “My thanks also go to our AAG (Academic Advisory Group) members for their dedication to the relaunch of the Academy and their invaluable expertise in guiding course development.”
The DFWC also announced that January 2022 will see the launch of a new accredited certificate course covering the whole duty free and travel retail industry.
The trade body said the launch of this flagship programme will offer students the opportunity to learn more about all aspects of the industry. This includes the sector’s business models and main players, and it will also feature insights on the shopper and how to optimise sales.
AAG Chair Aude Bourdier, who also serves as VP Managing Director Global Travel Retail at Brown-Forman, said: “There has been such a loss of talent in our industry in the past 18 months; the provision of bespoke industry training is now more important than ever, and it is the Academy’s role to provide this support to our global industry.”
In addition to Bourdier and Branquinho, the DFWC Academy Advisory Group members are Frank O’Connell and Gerry Murray (DFWC); Maureen O’Hara (Aer Rianta International); Mona Al Ali (Dubai Duty Free); Barry Geoghegan (Duty Free Global); Tobias Baude (Imperial Brands); Erin Lillis (Lacoste); Soufyen Amaar (Lagardère Travel Retail); Carine Ruiz (L’Oréal); Carlos Granados Moyano (Mondelez); John Rimmer (Tax Free World Association) and Nicola Wells (USP Consulting).
See the new website and details on the Academy and its courses here.
