SWITZERLAND. Dufry Deputy Group CEO José Antonio Gea will step down as Deputy CEO and a member of the company’s Global Executive Committee on 31 December.
Gea, an outstanding contributor to the company and the travel retail channel in general, joined Dufry as Global Chief Operating Officer in 2004 and was appointed Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer in 2018.
Dufry has appointed Salvatore Aricò as Chief Organization & Transformation Officer to the Global Executive Committee reporting to CEO Julián Díaz.
Aricò, currently Dufry’s Global Human Resources Director, joined the company in 2014 through Dufry’s acquisition of fellow travel retailer The Nuance Group, where he was Executive Vice President Human Resources.
In his new role, effective 1 January 2021, he will focus on driving the further development and transformation of the company organisation, Dufry said. The Human Resources department will remain within the area of responsibility of Chief Corporate Officer Luis Marin.
Julián Díaz commented: “In the name of the Dufry Board of Directors and the management team, I would like to thank José Antonio Gea for his extraordinary and long-lasting contribution to and performance for the growth of the company.
“José Antonio joined Dufry in 2004 and continuously evolved Dufry’s operational excellence with great dedication, thus successfully aligning the business model to both the growth of the company as well as the changing market and customer requirements. We wish him lots of success for his future professional endeavours and all the best for his private life.
“I welcome Salvatore Aricò as new member of our Global Executive Committee and wish him an ongoing success in his new role and area of responsibility. Salvatore has been instrumental in the integration of our transformational acquisitions of Nuance and World Duty Free and has ever since successfully contributed to shape the new company culture and drive the evolution of Dufry’s organisation.”
Comment: One cannot simply pass this story off as a senior level personnel change without acknowledging José Antonio Gea’s immense contribution to the remarkable Dufry success story of the past 16 years – a story punctuated but not ended by this year’s disastrous COVID-19 crisis.
Gea joined as Global Chief Operating Officer in 2004, a year that saw private equity group Advent International acquire Dufry and Julián Díaz take the CEO reins. Ever since, they have been a strong double act and Díaz’s use of the term “extraordinary” to describe Gea’s contribution is as apposite as it is heartfelt.
A charming, thoughtful man in social company, direct and warm in equal measure, Gea has always been intensely focused on Dufry’s development and in taking the business to a new level. Insiders talk about a driven, dedicated executive with a great duty of care for the business. That care has shown time and again to good effect over the past 16 years.
