MIDDLE EAST. The annual Middle East Duty Free Conference ended on Tuesday in Dubai, with the focus on future influences on the market, and the challenges facing the regional trade.
Among the highlights were two sessions covering the influence of the Indian and Chinese traveller on Middle East duty free.
Indian ex-pats have long played a big role in the business of Gulf retailers, and remain a huge buying force in categories such as confectionery and liquor. The Chinese, as more and more retailers in this region have been discovering, are still a small proportion of passenger traffic but the spending they generate far outweighs their importance in number.
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The influence of the Chinese traveller was covered in a fascinating session |
The event took a closer look not just at the influence of these nationalities on the Middle East business, but at some of the forces that will shape their travel patterns – from aviation policies to airport and airline route development in their home countries – as well trying to assess their purchasing motivations now and in the future.
Among the contributors on India were Centre for Aviation CEO South Asia Kapil Kaul and IDFS Trading Chairman Deepak Talwar.
In an excellent China session the speakers included Bernard Creed, Vice President Finance at Dubai Duty Free, Catharina Eklöf, Vice President Global Merchant Development at MasterCard
and Alexander Glos, CEO at agency I2I.
In a session on industry challenges, Dubai Duty Free Vice President Operations Sean Staunton and DFS Abu Dhabi Managing Director Glen Morgan spoke eloquently about the issues of managing tremendous growth and expansion in the market – and reinforced the importance of people in ensuring customer satisfaction.
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Stuart McGuire of Scorpio speaks on the airline panel on morning two at MEDFA |
In earlier sessions, the challenges of inflight retail were discussed by Rami Madi, General Manager, Traveller Ltd; Keith Hunter, Senior Vice President Qatar Duty Free and Qatar Airways Inflight Duty Free; Stuart McGuire, Chairman, Scorpio Worldwide; Jean-Charles Seite, Vice President Europe Middle East & Africa, Estée Lauder Travel Retailing and Selwyn Grimsley, CEO, Tourvest Duty Free.
A strong brands panel also featured, with fine presentations from David Francis, General Manager Worldwide Duty Free JTI; David Freeborn, Managing Director, Pernod Ricard Gulf and Stefan Dembinski, L’Oréal Luxe Travel Retail, Europe & Middle East.
The event ran over the past two days and was attended by a record number of close to 500 delegates at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. It ran alongside the Middle East Exclusive exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Center.
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George Horan welcomes guests to the Dubai Duty Free-sponsored MEDFA gala dinner; (below) Irish singing star Mary Black entertains guests |
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On Monday night Dubai Duty Free hosted the conference’s gala dinner, with Irish singing star Mary Black performing for guests.
The focus switches now to the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, which takes place over the coming days at The Montgomerie and Dubai Creek & Country Club courses.
Coverage of day one
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The MEDFA Conference began on Monday at Dubai’s Jumeirah Creekside Hotel |
The Middle East Duty Free Association (MEDFA) Conference began on Monday in Dubai, with a focus on the future of the industry, on the evolving tastes of the consumer and on communicating effectively with travellers.
MEDFA President John Sime noted that the region was “punching above its weight” in duty free terms, and said that the major investments from airports and airlines would ensure that the industry remained a powerhouse of global growth.
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John Sime: The Middle East is the world’s great cross-roads |
He also cited the expansion ambitions of MEDFA, saying that it wanted to “increase its geographical footprint with the inclusion of Africa in our name, hopefully within a few months”.
He also saluted the Middle East Exclusive exhibition, saying that the region needed its own event, because the Middle East is “where East meets West”, where airlines are expanding when globally others are contracting, and where the region is growing faster than any other in duty free sales growth.
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Paul Griffiths (above and pictured below in conversation on stage with The Moodie Report’s Dermot Davitt) delivered an excellent, thought-provoking presentation on the industry’s future |
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The conference began with a powerful keynote presentation from Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, who argues that travel retail was at the start of a revolutionary process that would change it forever. He cited the new expectations of consumers and the lead taken by other retail channels, saying that travel retail has to follow.
He made four predictions for the business, saying that airport retailing would become a showcase – with the emphasis on the USP of exploiting the cash-rich and time-poor traveller. This would happen in tandem with brands establishing their reputation and equity through the use of advertising that is more digital, viral and social.
Fulfillment will be separated from the point of sale, he noted, with purchasing becoming instant and digitally enabled. Also, as savvy consumers can price-check any items, and with a change in fulfillment and logistics, the value proposition will be based solely on the local differences in the tax regime at the point of origin. Finally, he noted, industry consolidation will only increase.
Griffiths said: “Some will fear the good times are over – others will see this as the opportunity to create good times. For the travel retail industry this could provide the opportunity to leverage both the trends in online retailing through reduced costs of supply and rapid fulfillment as well as the traditional “˜see, touch, it, smell it, feel it’ values of retailing. Now is the time to recognize the opportunity, be bold, join hands and take the leap together.”
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Costas Verginis gave the macro-economic viewpoint |
In other sessions delegates heard an analysis of the Middle East regional economies from Deloitte & Touche Director Consulting Real Estate & Hospitality Dr Costas Verginis, while there was also a fascinating session on emerging African markets, with contributions from David Brenner, CEO of Tourvest division Tiger’s Eye; Paul Topping, independent board director at Flemingo International, and Dufry Regional Commercial Director EMEA & Asia Erik van der Veen.
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Donald D’Souza presented the ‘Sharjah vision’ |
Later, guests heard about “˜The Sharjah Vision’ from Donald D’Souza, Director Commercial at Sharjah Airport Authority, followed by a session on consumer segmentation involving M1nd-set Director Peter Mohn and Bain & Co Director Cyrille Fabre. And there was a strong end to the day in a communications session including Kavanagh Communications CEO Anne Kavanagh, Robert Thorpe, Managing Director, DC Activ and David Judge, Executive Creative Directorand co-founder at Start Judge Gill.
The event, which concludes on Tuesday, is moderated by The Moodie Report Deputy Publisher Dermot Davitt and Aer Rianta International Consultant Director John Sutcliffe.
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A strong panel on communication rounded out day one |
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The event attracted around 500 delegates, a new record |
