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“I believe a key feature of our success was the strength of the consortium itself“ |
Ersan Arcan General Manager ATÜ Duty Free |
TUNISIA. In major breaking news, a consortium comprising ATÜ Duty Free (the joint venture between TAV Airports and Unifree Duty Free), Gebr Heinemann and Hamila Duty Free has been awarded the tender to operate the duty free shops at the Tunisian international airports of Tunis‐Carthage, Djerba‐Zarzis, Sfax‐Thyna, Tozeur‐Nefta and Tabarka‐Ain Draham, following an open tender.
The consortium will run the concession for a period of eight years and two months, starting November 2014. The tri-partite allliance submitted a financial offer of €32 million over the contract term. The total retail area across the airports is 5,406 sq m. The airports handled a combined 8 million passengers last year.
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“Winning this current tender is an important step forward for our group. After the success of recently winning the concession in Sydney Airport, Australia, our company’s activities have gained a new and truly global dimension.“ |
Raoul Spanger Managing Director Retail and Board Member Gebr Heinemann |
The tender included a pre-qualification stage. In securing this important win, the ATU/Gebr Heinemann/Hamila consortium said it faced strong competition from global duty free retailers, including the incumbent Dufry, LS travel retail, World Duty Free Group, Aer Rianta International and Flemingo.
ATÜ Duty Free General Manager Ersan Arcan said: ”Winning this tender is very important to us. It marks a major expansion of our operational network in Tunisia, which started in 2009. I believe a key feature of our success was the strength of the consortium itself. We combined with Gebr Heinemann, which is the largest duty free retailer and supplier in Europe [in terms of Europe-based operations -Ed], who took the lead in the bid. We also had the opportunity to benefit from valuable insight and support from our other partner Hamila Duty Free, a strong Tunisian duty operator.
Gebr Heinemann Managing Director Retail and Board Member Raoul Spanger commented: “We have been consistently focused on the North African market this year, where we are already operating the Tunisian airports in Monastir and Enfidha. In Spring, we won the duty free tender at Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh Airport Terminal 2. Therefore, winning this current tender is an important step forward for our group. After the success of recently winning the concession in Sydney Airport, Australia, our company’s activities have gained a new and truly global dimension.”
Arcan continued: “Serving 8 million passengers in 2013, these airports will be very important operation points for us. Aviation and tourism is making rapid progress in Tunisia and the potential for further growth will help fuel our future success. Our new Tunisian operation will open the gate of Africa to us, where we believe there are genuine opportunities to increase the scope and scale of our business.
“Airports are generally the first point of contact with visitors to any country. It is part of our business culture to offer our customers the best welcome possible. Whether in Tunisia or the six other countries where we operate, our main aim is always to create real added value by delivering the best international retail standards as well as featuring and supporting local culture.”
Arcan emphasised the importance of continually improving the product range. ”Providing customer satisfaction is key to us,” he commented. “We aim to offer famous global brands at the best possible prices. Given our strong supply chain and logistics, our intention is to deliver a wide and diverse range of brands to the Tunisian duty free marketplace.
“We are also very proud to continue the process of creating a new generation of jobs for the industry. We have done that at Enfidha and, more recently, at Monastir Airport. Our prime focus is to invest in people who we see as the front line to our customer base. Commercial success always follows when there is a genuine understanding of the values of customer service combined with product knowledge. We are very excited indeed over our future in Tunisia and look forward to extending a great welcome and memorable experience to all arriving and departing passengers.”
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The victory marks another important expansion for ATÜ Duty Free beyond its home market in Turkey (pictured at Istanbul Atatürk Airport) |
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