INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Report is proud to present the most recent nominations in our Front Line feature, which appears in every issue of our weekly e-Zine. The Front Line allows retailers around the world to nominate sales staff they consider worthy of special recognition, and thus provides a showcase of the best exponents of customer service within our industry.
“We’re delighted with the positive response we’ve had to our Front Line feature, and have received some wonderful and inspiring nominations,” said The Moodie Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie. “As the first point of contact with the travelling consumer, sales staff are truly at the ‘front line’ of our industry and have an important ambassadorial role to play. We want to honour and promote that role. We encourage retailers from all regions to get involved by nominating the staff that are making a positive difference to their business every day.”
Each year The Moodie Report will present a round-up of the best nominations received. To nominate an employee from your company, email Martin Moodie at martin@themoodiereport.com with the following details:
– A picture of the employee (preferably in a work environment)
– Their job title and length of service with your company
– A short description (no more than 500 words) of what makes them exceptional
– A quote or comment from them (optional) on their approach to customer service.
Here are the most recent nominations to The Front Line, as showcased in The Moodie Report e-Zine:
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Rosy Valencia |
WEEK SIX
Employee: Rosy Valencia – Category Merchandiser, Fashion, Jewellery & Sunglasses
Time in job: Ten years
Employer: Qatar Duty Free, Doha International Airport, Qatar
Employer’s comments: Qatar Duty Free has been experiencing annual growth of over +20% in recent years and, with limited space available, it’s a challenge for our staff to deliver some aggressive targets. Rosy Valencia, our Category Merchandiser, is making sure that fashion, jewellery and sunglasses make a big difference to our sales growth.
Rosy is creative, dedicated, enthusiastic, efficient and responsible. She’s also a natural leader and a role model.
Rosy was one of the first people to join the company over ten years ago when Qatar Duty Free started business. She has exhibited great qualities in understanding the business and implementing our corporate strategies.
Rosy takes service to an exemplary level. She deals with customers of many nationalities, the majority of whom do not share a common language with her, yet they walk out with bags full of products. [Other] staff appreciate Rosy’s “˜service talks’; they receive better incentives thanks to her coaching and guidance.
Among Rosy’s many achievements in her career with us was when she ensured sales worth US$20,000 from a customer who had no intention of buying anything. Rosy has several repeat customers who say: “Rosy doesn’t try to sell to us, she only provides us with solutions.”
Rosy Valencia is one of our biggest assets and we are confident that she still has a lot to contribute. We look forward to another ten glorious years of service with Qatar Duty Free.
Rosy’s favourite saying is: “If you can do something today, don’t wait until tomorrow.”
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Toni Estwick |
WEEK SEVEN
Employee: Toni Estwick, Sales Associate
Time in job: Five years
Employer: Flagship Retail Services (Dufry), onboard Norwegian Star
Employer’s comments: Toni Estwick is an outstanding sales associate. She gets the most positive comment cards from our guests expressing their gratitude for her exceptional service. Toni has been with the company for the past five years and she is truly an ambassador of the Dufry family.
She is a very pleasant girl with a great sense of humour that breaks the ice and comforts the guests when they are shopping in the Dufry store. She is a very customer-oriented person always projecting a positive attitude. Every week she gets many “˜Glad to be onboard’ cards from our guests.
Toni also performs stock checks and inventory control in the store rooms making sure that the inventory is always correct. I have been working with her for the last two contracts and I would say that she is very organised, dedicated, professional and an excellent team player who goes the extra mile every time for our guests. – Mirjana Stankovic, Shop Manager, Norwegian Star
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Ben Ling Ming Jing |
WEEK EIGHT
Employee: Ben Ling Ming Jing, Team Leader,
Bvlgari, The Fashion Gallery,
Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2
Time in job: Eleven months
Employer: LS travel retail ASPAC
Employer’s comments: Ben receives numerous compliments from customers on his personalised customer service. He is passionate about his work, and extremely patient; and he will go the extra mile to make customers happy. This has earned him praise from customers who have taken the time to write in complimenting his positive attitude.
Ben received a Service Excellence Award from Changi Airport Group and acts as a role model to all staff.
He has a gracious personality, is always sharing his knowledge with fellow colleagues, and is courteous to everyone.
WEEK NINE
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Mitsuko Koiwa |
Employee: Mitsuko Koiwa, Cartier Sales Associate
Employer: DFS Group – Tumon Bay Galleria, Guam
Time in job: Five years
Employer’s comments: Mitsuko has worked in our Cartier Boutique for almost five years. She is very sincere when serving customers in the shop. As Mitsuko worked in the wedding industry before joining DFS, she sees the little details that matter to clients, and ensures that she takes them into consideration. Mitsuko always reports to work smiling and full of energy, which inspires her colleagues to behave the same way. She lives out the DFS values and we are very pleased to have her on our team.
Over the past few years Mitsuko has established close relationships with many of her customers, and she has enjoyed much success in the workplace. Her genuine care for her customers was most obvious in the days following the March earthquake in Japan. As she and her colleagues contacted clients individually to make sure they were safe, during one of her many conversations Mitsuko realised how scarce certain materials were. She therefore took the initiative to help one of her Japanese clients to locate battery supplies in Guam, needed for the night workers reconstructing Japan’s highways. Mitsuko managed to source 1,000 “˜D’ batteries, enough for the road works at five locations.
Mitsuko has taken customer service to an entirely new level. Her efforts to build lasting relationships with her clients led directly to her contribution towards rebuilding Japan’s roads.
Mitsuko represents DFS in an amazing way and we are thankful to her for her dedication to the company and, most importantly, to her clients.
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Sabriya Al Balushi |
WEEK TEN
Employee: Sabriya Al Balushi, Duty Manager
Employer: Muscat Duty Free
Time in job: Eight years
Employer’s comments: Sabriya is a hard-working and focused team player who is a credit to Muscat Duty Free – a fantastic ambassador for Oman and a very positive role model for the rest of the team. Sabriya leads by example and has excellent interpersonal skills.
She is a strong “˜can do’ manager who is focused on providing the very best in leadership and customer service. She began working in the duty free industry in Oman in 1999 with a previous operator, and since then she has progressed on her own merit to the role of Duty Manager.
Sabriya’s efforts over the past number of years have really helped shape what we are at Muscat Duty Free: a friendly, efficient and totally customer-focused operation, ensuring all our customers experience the famous Omani hospitality.
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