Sinead el Sibai joined Dubai Duty Free in 2000 after working for a leading PR agency in Dubai since 1988. During her time at the company she has worked on Dubai Duty Free’s extensive marketing campaigns that incorporate major international events, including the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. She has been at the forefront of the operation’s major sponsorship agreements and their activation, including the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup and Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. Sinead’s role also extends to Retail Marketing, Public Relations and Media Relations.
Sinead was named Senior Vice President for Marketing in September 2016.
With a 25-year international career in the world of art and luxury goods, Luis Gasset currently holds a dual position as Senior Vice President of Qatar Duty Free. He is responsible for strengthening and growing Qatar Airways and its thriving duty free business, based in Doha.
Luis has held various senior roles with some of the world’s leading luxury brands, including Loewe, Carrera y Carrera, Folli Follie and most recently Bulgari, where he served as Chief Executive Officer in Spain and Middle East and Africa for almost a decade.
Luis has a keen interest in fine art and previously founded Fondos de Arte Siglo XVII, an institution specializing in 17th century Spanish painting.
Christopher James Tantoco is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of IDFS Morocco, the country’s first and leading duty free operator.
Patriarch of the Philippine luxury retail industry, Ambassador Bienvenido R. Tantoco and his wife, the late Mme Gliceria R Tantoco, along with their local partners, believed in the great potential of Morocco, in particular with regard to tourism. It was thus that in 1989, they decided to set-up the first International Duty Free Shops (IDFS) in Casablanca Airport.
Today IDFS operates 22 airside stores in 10 of the country’s largest airports, along with military and diplomatic shops. Since Christopher joined the company in 2012, IDFS sales have grown by a dramatic 20%.
Christopher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Boston University School of Management, USA.
Jack MacGowan is the newly appointed CEO of Al Waha Duty Free Company which was registered in November 2024 and formally launched by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in March 2025, with the objective of growing and transforming travel retail in the Kingdom and supporting Projext 2030
Before stepping into this role, Jack advised boards in the U.S. (PCRP), chaired tech firm Digi Systems in Ireland, and served as Director (and briefly, Interim CEO) of Sodaflo in the UK.
He spent 14 years at the Dublin Airport Authority, first leading commercial operations for the airport group and then serving as CEO of ARI, a powerhouse in global travel retail, for seven years. At ARI, Jack led expansion into Asia, New Zealand, and the Middle East, doubling revenues to $1.2 billion and tripling both EBITDA and shareholder returns. By the time he exited in 2018, the company had grown into a 4,000-person strong enterprise spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region.
Jack’s early career included key marketing roles at Shell, strategic consulting at McKinsey in London, and international management posts with Diageo across the UK, USA, Greece, and Russia. He holds engineering degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Cambridge University, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Now based in Riyadh where Jack lives with his wife, Petrina Smyth, and their two children. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director at Tailwind Inc.
Suzie Wokabi is the creator of Kenya’s first make-up and beauty brand, SuzieBeauty, and a trailblazer in creating a bespoke product for the African woman, by an African woman. Soon after graduating from university in the US, Suzie was trained by MAC Cosmetics and completed an intensive Media Make-up certificate course at the Award Studio Make-up School in Los Angeles. She worked in New York within the fashion and beauty industries from 2001 until 2007, when she returned to her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya. She began creating her make-up/ beauty brand in early 2009 and officially launched it in December 2011.
SuzieBeauty products are designed to be affordable, high quality, and tailor-made for the unique needs of women living in the African climate. At the end of 2015, the brand was acquired by The Flame Tree Group, with a view to increasing its reach and presence within Africa and beyond.
To date, Suzie’s work has been featured in countless magazines and TV shows. SuzieBeauty sponsors most major fashion events including Fashion & Beauty Expo (FAB), Nairobi Fashion Market, Samantha Bridal Expo, Miss World Kenya, Kenya Fashion Week and Hub of Africa Fashion Week in Addis Ababa. Suzie was featured as one of Kenya’s leading business people in 2013 in Msafiri Magazine (Kenya Airways Inflight) to tie in with Kenya’s Golden Jubilee of Independence, and awarded the Msafiri Business Award for Health & Beauty.
SuzieBeauty products are readily accessible online and in retail outlets across Kenya and in Uganda, Ethiopia and Cote D’Ivoire. Additionally, the company has established a seasonal school in Kenya for aspiring local make-up-artists.
