SOUTH AMERICA. With great sadness we report the passing of Santos Fagundes, one of the founding fathers of South American Duty Free Association ASUTIL and a key influence in the development of the region’s duty-free and travel retail industry.
Mr Fagundes was the father of Avolta Brazil CEO and ASUTIL Vice President Gustavo Fagundes.
Along with Jonas Barcellos, Santos Fagundes was a founding partner of powerful South American duty-free retailer Brasif (acquired by Dufry, now Avolta, in 2006), one of the region’s earliest travel retailers and the first to open arrivals stores.
ASUTIL President and Avolta President & CEO LATAM & Caribbean Enrique Urioste paid warm tribute to Santos Fagundes, telling The Moodie Davitt Report, “Santos Fagundes was a founding father of ASUTIL and one of the first I worked with when I joined the association as Secretary General in 1994.
“He was someone really special, a thorough professional and an extremely generous person who took the time to introduce me to this amazing industry.
“Later on when I was CEO of Interbaires we created an even deeper relationship that brought prosperity to both companies and expanded the industry to new frontiers.
“He was a great professional with a very forward-thinking mentality. But more importantly, he was an amazing human being from whom I had the privilege to learn a lot and together we achieved amazing things in our region.
“I will especially miss him. So will ASUTIL. All my thoughts and prayers to his wife as well as Gustavo and the rest of his amazing family.”
The Moodie Davitt Report joins with the industry in sharing our condolences with the Fagundes family. ✈
