KENYA. Tourvest In-flight Retail Services (TIRS), part of integrated tourism group Tourvest’s Travel Retail division, has retained the contract to manage inflight duty free sales for Kenya Airways.
TIRS CEO Clive Jones said the company retained the contract “against stiff competition in a very thorough tender process which included document submissions, presentations and financial negotiations.” The tender was contested by TIRS, DFASS, a NAS Servair / Inflight Sales Group (ISG) partnership, and Flemingo.
Jones said that TIRS was re-awarded the contract thanks to the “strength of its ecommerce solution and innovative approach towards taking the business model forward”.
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Tourvest In-flight Retail Services Clive Jones and Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze sign the contract awarding the management of the airline’s inflight duty free sales to Tourvest |
He said: “Client retention forms a critical part of our stated objective of becoming the dominant player in the global retail inflight sector and we saw the renewal of the Kenya Airways contract as the first real test for our recently strengthened executive. It is a great accolade for our Kenya-based team and a testament to the positive effect the implementation of a series of strategic initiatives has had on the company, which also included entrenching our corporate values and culture within our people.”
Jones added: “We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Kenya’s flagship carrier which, in some ways, made our bid all the more difficult even though we had an in-depth understanding of Kenya Airways’ business. Given the comprehensive process that Kenya Airways led, our retention of the contract is the clearest indication yet that our overall value proposition has been tested and seen to be the best on offer.
“We are very proud of our association with Kenya Airways and it has been an absolute pleasure dealing with such a professional airline, seeking a partnership based on the equal balance of the basic business fundamentals of service, innovation, trust and mutually beneficial commercial terms.”
Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze added that his airline needed to ensure that it was aligned to global best practice, which is why it had tested the market through a tender process.
“We were very thorough and TIRS’s overall proposition proved to be the most innovative and forward-thinking of all the bidders,” Ngunze said. “I believe we have partnered with an inflight retail concessionaire that will help us further differentiate our airline and which is aligned with our corporate culture and our vision for Kenya Airways.”
TIRS also holds the concessions for British Airways, South African Airways, SA Express, TAAG, Arik, Interair and Precision.
