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“The creation of a liquor division was a natural progression in complementing our growing portfolio of hotels across the UAE.“ |
Mohamed Mounib CEO National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels |
UAE. Abu Dhabi’s National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCT&H) has created a new liquor company to serve the Abu Dhabi market. Already five retail shops under the Cheers Abu Dhabi brand have opened.
NCT&H, which was created in 1996 to serve the Abu Dhabi tourism business, is headed by well-known duty free veteran Mohamed Mounib, who led Abu Dhabi Duty Free’s emergence as an industry force in the Middle East until 2007.
“NCT&H has a diverse and growing number of businesses in our portfolio,” said Mounib. “The creation of a liquor division was a natural progression in complementing our growing portfolio of hotels across the UAE. We took a hard look at the Abu Dhabi market and determined that we had an opportunity to build a different proposition in terms of agencies, service and expertise to a rapidly maturing and increasingly sophisticated market.”
The new division is headed by General Manager Dominic Shaw. He previously worked at Abu Dhabi MMI, Bahrain MMI, Constellation Brands and Mathew Clark.
“Dominic’s experience of both the Gulf markets and the development of brands across all categories made him the ideal person to initiate the start-up of the division,” said Mounib.
“In the last 12 months we have established a full IT, logistics and sales capability with back office support. We have quickly opened five retail shops under the Cheers Abu Dhabi branding, established successful trading relationships both in our own hotels and in the entire Abu Dhabi on-trade market.”
Abu Dhabi’s liquor market is rapidly expanding, the company noted, with many more new hotels, restaurants, bars and residential developments set to open over the next five years, as part of the ultimate Abu Dhabi 2030 vision.
Mounib said: “Our philosophy is simple: we want to be the best, delivering products, service and expertise at the highest level. The growing sophistication of the market demands that our people are well trained and we actively seek experienced and knowledgeable staff from both F&B and FMCG backgrounds.
“The combination of the supply of mainstream brands and the development of new, exciting and innovative brands such as Crystal Head Vodka, Hedonist Cognac and Lucky beer, means we offer a unique combination of expertise and innovation to all of our customers.”
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The new company has already opened five retail stores under the Cheers Abu Dhabi brand |
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Shaw commented: “We continue to work tirelessly to develop new relationships with suppliers that fit with our philosophy. From our domestic base and future duty free base we will also be developing our relationships with all of the Gulf duty free operators.
“What we have achieved in the last 12 months has been staggering. What has taken our competitors up to 50 years to achieve we have done in one. And we are only just beginning.”
The National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCT&H) was formed in 1996 to develop tourism and commerce in the United Arab Emirates, and specifically in Abu Dhabi. It is dedicated to the promotion of the Abu Dhabi travel industry, both as a local and international destination. Its main strands of business are: hotel acquisition and management, hospitality services, transport and catering.
Dominic Shaw will attend the TFWA World Exhibition later this month. He can be contacted at (mobile) +971 50 6683172 or email Dominic.shaw@ncth.ae
