UAE. Continuing our series profiling The Moodie Davitt Report’s Travel Retail Superstars Awards 2025 winners, Senior Business Editor Mark Lane speaks to Dubai Duty Free Customer Service Assistant Denzil Gomes. Recognised in the Star Individual Middle East & Africa – Shop Floor, Customer Facing category, Gomes reflects on the power of empathy, the importance of human connection in a fast-paced airport environment, and why choosing compassion over convenience can leave a lasting mark on a traveller’s journey.
For many travellers passing through Dubai International Airport, an interaction with Dubai Duty Free Customer Service Assistant Denzil Gomes may last only a few minutes.
Yet for some, those moments leave a lasting impression.
It is that ability to combine professionalism with genuine human connection that has earned Gomes the Travel Retail Superstars 2025 Star Individual Award for Middle East & Africa – Shop Floor, Customer Facing.
Since joining Dubai Duty Free’s Customer Service Department in 2022, Gomes has become known not only for delivering exceptional frontline service but also for helping improve processes behind the scenes, streamlining operations and enhancing data security.
Just as importantly, he has built a reputation for kindness, empathy and an unwavering commitment to putting people first.
The judges described him as “an exceptional all-rounder whose compassion and integrity shine through every interaction”, highlighting both his customer-centric mindset and his determination to improve the business around him.
For Gomes, great customer service begins with a simple principle. “Treating every person as though they are the most important person in the room at that moment” is how he defines it.
“Airports are emotional places,” he says. “Some travellers are excited, while others may be exhausted, anxious or carrying personal challenges we know nothing about.
“I believe customer service is not only about providing information or solutions, but also about bringing calm, empathy and humanity into someone’s journey.”
Those qualities came to the fore in one of the stories that particularly resonated with the judges. After helping a traveller, Gomes was offered a gesture of thanks. Rather than accepting it, he encouraged the customer to help someone in need instead.
Far from rejecting gratitude, he viewed the moment as an opportunity to extend it.
Compassion’s ripple effect
“I encourage them to pass that kindness forward to someone who may need support one day,” he explains. “Small acts of compassion can create a ripple effect far greater than we realise.”
The philosophy reflects a deeply held belief that guides both his personal and professional life.
“There is a quote I have always believed in: ‘The service we do unto others is the rent we pay for our time here on Earth’,” reveals Gomes.
Working at one of the world’s busiest airports requires the ability to connect quickly with people from every corner of the globe. Gomes believes the key lies not in speaking first, but in listening.
“Travellers can immediately sense whether we are genuinely present or simply responding out of routine,” he notes.
Every customer arrives with different expectations, shaped by culture, personality and circumstance. Some value efficiency above all else. Others need reassurance. Gomes says he adapts accordingly, aiming to ensure that even brief encounters leave travellers with a positive impression of both Dubai Duty Free and Dubai itself.
His contribution extends well beyond customer-facing interactions, in the words of his employer.
Drawing on his frontline experience, Gomes has helped refine customer feedback reporting, streamline commendation processes and strengthen safeguards around sensitive customer information.
“Frontline employees bring an incredibly valuable perspective because we experience customer expectations and operational challenges in real time every day,” he says.
Gomes believes organisations thrive when employees feel empowered to contribute ideas beyond their immediate responsibilities. “Nothing grows when people remain silent,” he reflects.
That willingness to contribute was recognised through the Dubai Government’s ICD Happiness Club Award, an honour Gomes describes as both surprising and humbling.
African influence
What made the recognition particularly meaningful was that it reflected the views of both customers and colleagues.
“In many ways, they are like a second family,” he says of his colleagues. “We support each other through long shifts, challenges and stressful moments.”
True to character, he views the award not as an individual achievement but as a collective one. He cites the African philosophy of Ubuntu as a guiding influence.
“It is the idea that humanity is based on the collective rather than the individual – essentially meaning, ‘I am because we are’. None of us succeeds alone.”
That perspective also shapes his approach to leadership. Gomes does not see leadership as something defined by hierarchy or job titles. Instead, it emerges through everyday actions, whether supporting colleagues during busy periods, remaining calm under pressure or helping others feel valued.
“You do not need a title to lead,” he says. “You lead every time you choose to do the right thing.”
An Irish connection
Perhaps the clearest illustration of his philosophy came through a long-running relationship with a customer from Ireland.
The traveller first contacted Dubai Duty Free regarding an electronic device and was impressed by Gomes’ assistance throughout the process. Nearly a year later, frustrated by difficulties obtaining another product, the customer found himself growing increasingly dissatisfied after several unsuccessful interactions.
When Gomes stepped in, he apologised, asked about the previously purchased device and even remembered a perfume the customer had bought for his son in Cyprus.
The response was immediate. “His entire tone changed,” Gomes recalls.
Although the exact product could not ultimately be sourced, Gomes continued supporting the customer throughout the process, communicating regularly and coordinating internally to explore every possible option.
The traveller later arranged his journey through Dubai to coincide with Gomes’ shift so they could meet in person.
For Gomes, the experience reinforced a lesson that sits at the heart of exceptional customer service.
“Sometimes it is simply about making people feel heard, respected and genuinely cared for,” he reflects. “Human connection builds trust in ways that transactions alone never can.”
It is a timely reminder for an industry increasingly shaped by technology, automation and artificial intelligence.
While acknowledging the importance of efficiency, Gomes believes empathy remains irreplaceable.
“A transaction can be completed by a machine,” he says. “What a machine cannot do is notice that a traveller looks overwhelmed and offer a reassuring word.”
For him, customer experience extends far beyond solving a problem or completing a sale.
“People may forget a transaction, but they rarely forget how they were treated or how someone made them feel,” Gomes says.
Inspiration for frontliners
Receiving Travel Retail Superstars recognition has provided an opportunity for reflection, not only on his own journey but also on the vital contribution made by frontline colleagues across the industry.
“Your work matters more than you know,” he answers, when asked for the message he would like to share with others working on the travel retail frontline.
“Frontline roles can sometimes feel invisible. Yet every single day, frontline colleagues help shape how people feel about their journeys, their destinations and sometimes even themselves.”
Another of his messages to the wider travel retail community is simple but powerful.
“Continue choosing compassion even when convenience would be easier. Every act of kindness leaves a mark, even if you never get to see it.”
For an industry built on serving millions of travellers every day, those words capture precisely why Denzil Gomes stands out as a Travel Retail Superstar. His story is a reminder that while systems, processes and technology all play their part, it is people – and the choices they make in countless everyday moments – who create experiences worth remembering. ✈
