Baptiste Duguit is Vice-President Business Development at Lagardère Travel Retail, and leads development projects and investment opportunities in the EMEA region. He has been working for the travel retail operator since 2011, and was previously Business Development Director for the Middle East & Africa. Prior to that, he was Marketing & Commercial Director at Dutyfly Solutions, the inflight retail division of Lagardère Travel Retail.

Before joining Lagardère Travel Retail, Baptiste worked in Sports Marketing for Havas Entertainment (Advertising) as well as the French brand Le Coq Sportif (sports lifestyle goods), developing experience in consumer marketing, communication tools, purchasing and sales development. Baptiste holds an MBA from ESSEC Business School and played rugby at semi-professional level.

Sharon Beecham is the Senior Vice President of Dubai Duty Free, having taken on the role as head of the retailer’s Purchasing department in September 2020.

Sharon began her travel retail career in 1994 with Aer Rianta International in Moscow and a short time in Beijing. She joined Dubai Duty Free in 1998 in the Retail division, where she held various positions in operations and merchandising before moving to the Purchasing department in 2004.

Prior to joining the world of travel retail, Sharon worked in retail management on the UK High Street.

With over twenty years of experience in the fields of business development and strategy execution across the Middle East and leading large national and regional projects, Deema Anani has been working with Airport International Group (AIG) since 2010 and is currently the company’s Chief Commercial and Customer Service Officer, with the mandate to develop, maintain and increase commercial revenues at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. Her responsibilities include retail activities (duty free, specialty retail, food & beverage) ground handling, airport services, car parks, advertising and overall real estate development. The commercial division also looks after property and asset management. Deema also heads the digital transformation committee in Queen Alia International Airport.

Before assuming her current role, Deema worked with organizations including IBM consulting services, Tecom Investments and Monitor Consulting.

Deema, a change agent, is a founding member of the Young Entrepreneurs Association, and is part of the steering committee of Digital Arabia Network. She is also a certified emotional intelligence trainer, and has an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of Edinburgh.

Gerry Crawford joined the DAA group of companies after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin. He held various finance management roles before being recruited to the DAA’s international retail management programme.

Subsequently, Gerry spent 14 years overseas with Aer Rianta International, holding senior management positions in Eastern Europe, Middle East, The Levant and the Mediterranean.

Prior to taking up the role of COO, his most recent posts were Director Retail Operations, Head of Retail & Concessions (Ireland), Regional Purchasing Manager – Middle East and General Manager of the award winning Cyprus Duty Free.

Gerry also holds an MBA from Warwick Business School.