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Justin Boutros: “The Middle East’s booming travel retail sector, across all areas, means that the region will continue to grow and there will be tremendous opportunities for luxury retailers to find avenues where they can sell their brands and be active” |
UAE. The Middle East Exclusive event stirred up mixed reaction within the industry when it emerged on the show circuit in 2003. Since then the event has grown in terms of visitors and exhibitors – although that has failed to diminish the detractors in some circles.
As the show enters its fourth year, organiser Channels Exhibitions Managing Director Justin Boutros responds to the criticisms, and explains to The Moodie Report why the company believes Middle East Exclusive has become an integral part of the travel retail calendar.
The Moodie Report: The Middle East Exclusive show has three events under its belt. How established now do you consider it to be, and how viable is the show going forward?
Justin Boutros: We now consider Middle East Exclusive (MEE) to be an integral part of the travel retail calendar. With year-on-year growth and the continued prosperity and opportunities around the Middle East, suppliers are finding that business opportunities are outstanding.
The Middle East’s booming travel retail sector, across all areas, means that the region will continue to grow and there will be tremendous opportunities for luxury retailers to find avenues where they can sell their brands and be active in one of the most important travel retail markets in the world today.
In Dubai alone, they are expecting over one million new tourists every year and [just recently] announced a £15 billion investment in the tourism sector in preparation for over 15 million tourists per year in 2010.
Tell us about this year’s event [27-29 November]. In particular, what will be different and better?
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This year’s Middle East Exclusive event will be held in larger halls at the Dubai World Trade Center, to accommodate the show’s projected growth |
Justin Boutros: This year’s event has moved to larger halls in the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) to accommodate the show’s projected growth. We will also be more aggressively targeting the luxury brand sector and the travel retail sector as a whole, not just the duty free areas.
This includes attracting more retailers and visitors from luxury hotels, boutiques, malls, cruises, border shops and seaports who are all becoming more and more integrated and important to the luxury goods and travel retail sector in the Greater Middle East.
We are also seeing a huge amount of growth through the Indian Subcontinent with regard to duty free from airports and airlines. As India and the Gulf have strong historical and current links (with some 30% of all duty free shopping in the Gulf coming from Indians), we are inviting these retailers to the show to participate, as we think that they are part of our market and we want them to come to Dubai.
Many of these buyers have never been to a travel retail show before, either due to the cost of taking their teams further afield, or are new entries into this industry.
Given that potential within India, does Channels have plans to specifically target the region in any major way – with an Indian village, for example?
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The Middle East “is not a market that is regurgitating the same brands,” notes Justin Boutros. “It listens to the customer and provides those brands that are relevant to the clients’ needs” |
Justin Boutros: India is of great interest to us as many parts of the Indian travel retail industry are benefiting from new growth, [thanks to] low cost airlines, better duty free stores, new luxury hotels and so on.
At this time though we do not feel that there are sufficient leading Indian brands to form a Group; we expect to see this in the near future as brands develop, but we are working to ensure that the travel retail buyers from across the country are aware that in Dubai there is a show representing their area and their needs with local and international brands.
Is the show profitable?
Justin Boutros: As an independent exhibitions organiser, we know that all shows take many years to grow to a size where they are truly profitable. In this interim period, huge amounts must be invested up front to develop any particular event and any monies received are re-invested to build databases, sales teams and marketing budgets.
Dubai is also growing as an exhibition hub and is experiencing unprecedented growth: this leads to supply and demand at the DWTC which in turn results in increased costs which are hard to put onto the exhibitor. Commercial profitability in the real sense will still need some time to come.
The show is endorsed by MEDFA, whose conference broadly coincides with your exhibition and is also in Dubai. If that conference begins to move around the region – and change its timing – will that be damaging to your event?
Justin Boutros: Middle East Exclusive was planned, conceived and established before MEDFA. As a local Dubai-based organizer, very well established with an extremely successful track record, I decided to launch MEE with the support of Dubai Duty Free and in compliance with the needs of the city.
In co-ordination with Dubai Duty Free and MEDFA we decided to coincide the timings of our exhibition to run during the same period so that we would all benefit from each others’ strengths and make it worthwhile for all our visitors to have all the events at the same time. We always consult with our partners and we do what’s best for all concerned.
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As a forum that facilitates new relationships, Middle East Exclusive is very much a place to do business as opposed to just a “show”, according to Channels |
The Middle East Exclusive has been on the receiving end of some fairly unsubtle pressure from TFWA, which has long claimed it is one show too many. What do you think of that attitude and that pressure?
Justin Boutros: These were the rumours floating around which I personally do not believe. We are focused on our plans and pursuing them to the best of our ability. Of course we feel that co-operation between duty free organisers could be much more beneficial to the industry as a whole.
There are several main criticisms of the event (listed below). What is your reaction to them?
– It is too close to Cannes:
Justin Boutros: While the event is close to Cannes, when there are opportunities to network and do business we feel that people are still happy to come. The MEDFA Conference is also close but the event is also healthy.
Events will never always please all people and the exhibition calendar is busy all year: amongst all the exhibitions are also the conferences. Next year TFWA Asia and IAADFS in Fort Lauderdale will be incredibly close. While people may not be happy, they will travel and adapt to be there to take the business opportunities available.
– The industry doesn’t need another show:
Justin Boutros: Now in our fourth year and growing year-on-year, Middle East Exclusive is an established show on the global calendar reflecting the very specific needs of the Greater Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, the CIS and Africa.
In a region that is investing multi-billions on various tourism mega-projects, the greater Middle East is probably the most exciting travel retail market in the world today. With this, fantastic business opportunities are on offer and retailers and suppliers will need an area to be able to meet and do business over three busy days.
In this region, meeting people, gaining trust and showing support should not be underestimated as a powerful tool for establishing close ties.
– Suppliers see everyone they need to see from the Middle East anyway at Cannes:
Justin Boutros: The show gives the suppliers the opportunity to display their goods in a luxury environment that reflects their brands to buyers from across the region. With over 2,000 travel retail executives, Middle East Exclusive also offers many brands the opportunities to meet new retailers from new markets.
Our remit is also slightly different i.e. we are not a pure duty free show but a luxury brand and travel retail show, so we have trade visitors from the luxury hotel sector, malls, boutiques, border shops, cruises and ship chandlers. This gives our exhibitors a wide variety of buyers from various regions and industries of the travel retail sector.
While many of the traditional duty free [suppliers] can see many of the operators, this is not a market that is regurgitating the same brands. The Middle East is innovative, offering various brands, variety of choice and most importantly it listens to the customer and provides those brands that are relevant to the clients’ needs.
– MEE is not a true luxury show because it can’t attract fragrance companies:
Justin Boutros: All shows take time to establish themselves and various brands have different strategies for different regions and of course, we would welcome the big fragrance houses, but we are still attracting luxury goods and travel retail products: renowned international brands such as Sony, Lacoste, Karelia, Cadbury, Damas, Police, M. Frey, Toscow, Villiger, Laurent Perrier, Aigner and Saledo. Middle East Exclusive is also an excellent opportunity for brands that reflect the local market to get the chance to participate.
The travel retail sector of the Middle East is different and more dynamic than anywhere else in the world, and we are sure that it is only a matter of time before many of the larger and more familiar houses look to participate.
Many of the retailers are also looking for new relationships and new products as opposed to seeing the same brands. This makes Middle East Exclusive very much a place to do business as opposed to just a ‘Show’.
The growth of the Middle East region and the greater Middle East is no longer in doubt. With many of the world’s most exciting projects for tourism, residential and business happening here, we are sure that many of the traditional brands will be looking to take advantage of the opportunities available.
With duty free no longer the preserve of the big brands, we expect to see the traditional brands guarding and aiming for stronger market share in the years to come as competition gets more fierce in a market where loyalty and support of the region is an important business attribute.
On the flip-side, what do you consider to be the main positives of MEE?
Justin Boutros: The main positives of the show are that companies that would not traditionally be allowed to exhibit at this type of show can now participate. If a brand is of sufficient quality and is relevant to the market, why exclude it? We also reflect the Middle East and the varying tastes and brands [of the region].
Retailers want new brands, and want to offer as wide a selection as possible to their customers, so many of the region’s operators are looking for new products and not just the same brands that they see every day in their offices.
Even many of the bigger names are seeing excellent returns on their investment in MEE as they are meeting so many buyers that they could never have found the time to get in front of due to location or company resources.
Many of the buyers at Middle East Exclusive are not the familiar industry names, yet are still serious buyers from across the region. The CIS, The Indian Subcontinent and Africa are all emerging as interesting points of sale for future business, in addition to the Greater Middle East which is the undeniable hot spot of the moment.
What else can you tell us about this year’s MEE – and your mind-set for the future in general?
Justin Boutros: We are looking forward again to being able to welcome the industry to Middle East Exclusive in November. We see the future as very bright with luxury brands and travel retailers wishing to gain a stronger foothold in the region, so the opportunity to meet some of these key buyers over three days will be an excellent opportunity to do immediate business.
The plans for tourism across the Gulf are, in some cases, projects beyond comprehension and the projected number of tourists will make the Middle East the most exciting destination in the world today.
We are looking to add to the social side as well with an evening’s skiing at the Mall of the Emirates, the world’s most advanced indoor ski slope. Dubai is not only a great place to do business but also an amazing place to relax and enjoy life too.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you agree with Justin Boutros? Or is Middle East Exclusive one show too many? You can have your say – attributed or anonymous – on this or any other story on The Moodie Report.com via our new Forum. Simply click here to express your thoughts.
MORE STORIES ON CHANNELS/MIDDLE EAST EXCLUSIVE
Third Middle East Exclusive exhibition draws to a close – 08/12/05
Middle East Exclusive sees record pre-registrations – 01/12/05
