Sherif Toulan serves as the Chief Executive Officer of IDF in Egypt. In this role he oversees the company operations including its diverse subsidiaries. Mr Toulan’s combined efforts have played an integral part in diversifying the operations of IDF and growing the business vertically and laterally thereby establishing IDF as a nationwide benchmark in the industry.
During his tenure, Mr Toulan succeeded in acquiring a number of airport retail concessions for IDF. In 2010 he founded Global Brands, a subsidiary of IDF the with a focus on the local market In 2013, he established Heinemann -Egypt, of which he is currently Chairman. Heineman Egypt is a joint venture between Global Brands, Global Trading and Technology and Gebr. Heinemann who are now operating its Duty Free Shops in Sharm El Sheikh Airport.
Mr Toulan joined IDF in 1997 as Business Development Coordinator responsible for Business Development and Strategy implementation and since then he has held a number of positions with increasing responsibility.
Part of the MEADFA Board since 2009, Mr Toulan served as Vice President (2019-21) before being elected President earlier this year. He also serves on a number of boards and associations. He is currently a Member of the Board of International Duty Free (IDF) and Global Trading and Technology, one of the subsidiaries of IDF with core focus in tobacco machinery and spare parts. In addition he is an active member of both the American and German chambers of commerce in Egypt.
Sherif Toulan holds a BA from the American University in Cairo and an Executive MBA from North Western University.
A former president of MEADFA, John Sime is Vice President Retail Services at Emirates Airline, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines.
John has been employed by Emirates since 1997 and is tasked with the development of the company’s onboard retail programme and the operation of a global rewards platform for Skywards members.
Before joining Emirates John held positions with several major duty free operators, including Aer Rianta International and Harding Bros. John has worked in most duty free retail environments, including ferries, cruiselines, airports and airlines.
José María Palencia Saucedo has been Chief Executive Officer of World Duty Free Group (including Aldeasa, World Duty Free, Alpha Group and HMSHost) since September 2010. He joined Aldeasa in 2001 and was Managing Director until 2005, when he became Chief Executive Officer. He has been a member of the Company’s Board of Directors since 2001, and he is also a member of the Board of Directors of CANARIENSIS.
José María has previously worked with Acerinox, Mitsui & Company, Andersen Consulting, Ministry of Economy and Finance and Eurocofin. He has a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Luigi Bocconi University, Milan.
An MBA graduate, Frank Passmann joined Montblanc in 1998 from Staedtler Mars GmbH, where he had held the role of Area Manager North America. He began his career with Montblanc as Area Sales Manager Europe, later becoming Sales Director before moving into the travel retail sector in 2005, when he was appointed General Manager Travel Retail Western Hemisphere. Last year he became Managing Director of Montblanc’s International Travel Retail division, created following the integration of the company’s Asian travel retail business within its international operations, run from Hamburg.
In his current role Frank is based in Hamburg and oversees Montblanc’s regional travel retail offices in Miami, Dubai and Hong Kong.
Paul Griffiths is Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Airports, with responsibility for the operation and development of Dubai International as well as Dubai World Central, which will eventually be the world’s largest airport with capacity to handle 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of freight annually.
Paul joined Dubai Airports as its first CEO in October 2007. Exactly a year later, on October 14, he orchestrated the flawless launch of Terminal 3 at Dubai International and on June 27, 2010 successfully opened the emirate’s second airport, Dubai World Central. He achieved another milestone in Dubai’s aviation history on January 2, 2013 with the similarly flawless opening of Concourse A, the world’s first purpose-built A380 facility.
Prior to moving to Dubai, Paul was Managing Director of London’s Gatwick Airport, the second largest airport in the UK. Before joining airport operator BAA in 2004, he spent 14 years with the Virgin Group, working closely with Sir Richard Branson as a Board Director of the Virgin Travel Group, embracing the commercial activities of both Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Trains. Prior to this, in the 1980s, he spent four years in Hong Kong developing the marketing, commercial planning and technology functions for the then start-up airline Dragonair.
Paul’s career in transportation arose out of the strict advice of his father not to pursue his passion for music. An accomplished organist, Paul has managed to combine a high-profile career with a schedule of concert and recital engagements, and has made many public appearances as a recitalist, continuo player and soloist in concerti with major orchestras.
Paul is married to Joanna (also a concert organist and composer) and has three children between the ages of 9 and 22.
Robin Goh is Assistant Vice President (Corporate Communications) at Changi Airport Group (CAG), the manager and operator of Singapore Changi Airport. In his role, Robin co-leads the day-to-day engagement strategies and publicity roadmap of Changi Airport and its “Fans of Changi” social media assets.
Having set the benchmark for delivering a first-class travel experience, Changi Airport’s social media blueprint encapsulates the Changi Experience via various digital platforms to keep its online community engaged and to extend its reach to new audiences. Through a myriad of social media strategies, “Fans of Changi” continually keeps an active conversation with travellers and aspiring travellers to sustain interest in the brand, yet at the same time building advocacy for Changi Airport.
How has retail shaped the way in which the region’s new airport facilities have been conceived? How will these new developments provide a step change in the quality of Middle Eastern travel retail?
Akbar al Baker will be joined on stage by Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths and Airport International Group (Jordan) CEO Kjeld Binger for a round-table discussion on the future for airport retail in the Middle East.
Sean Staunton is responsible for the retail outlets of Dubai Duty Free, having joined the company in 2000 in the position of Retail Sales Manager. In 2004 he was promoted to the position of Operations Manager and was named Vice President for Operations in July 2011.
Prior to joining Dubai Duty Free, Sean worked with Aer Rianta International for 10 years working in such locations as Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Moscow, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria and Qatar. He was responsible for the set-up of Damascus Duty Free and Qatar Duty Free during that time and has been working in the Middle East since 1994.
In September 2016, Sean was named Dubai Duty Free Senior Vice President for Retail Sales.
Sean is presently the President of the Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA), former Chairman of the Dubai Irish Society and President of Dubai Celts Gaelic Athletic Association.
