Archives
Gala Dinner
Lunch followed by afternoon networking
Awaking Africa
Confirmed 2015 sales figures from Generation Research suggest that duty free & travel retail in Africa suffered a double-digit decline last year, despite stable passenger traffic. Despite the continent’s growing prosperity, our industry is struggling to capitalize. In this session, retailers and brands will discuss how to put that right.
Featuring Suzie Wokabi, founder of fast-growing Kenyan beauty brand Suziebeauty; Flemingo International Director and Board Member Paul Topping; and Tourvest Ground Duty Free CEO Blacky Komani.
Millennials in the Middle East
Over the next decade, Millennial travellers (born between 1981 and 1995) will enter their peak earning and spending years. Their behaviour, choices and priorities are fundamentally different to those of their parents. What does their emergence mean for the duty free & travel retail industry in the Middle East?
Google Dubai Senior Industry Analyst Vrinda Singh is a travel expert for the tech giant and author of Winning the Middle East Millennial Traveller, while Elena Nikolova is the creator of award-winning travel blog for Muslim Millennials, muslimtravelgirl.com. Both will share their insights into this vital generation of travellers.
Retail 2025
Given the pace of development in technology, modes of consumption and communication, domestic retail is in a state of constant flux. How will developments on the High Street influence the DF and TR industry over the next ten years? How must customer service evolve to meet the needs and expectations of tomorrow’s travelling consumer?
Delegates will hear from two experts on retail and on the disruptive changes the industry is undergoing: Dubai-based advertising and marketing consultant Joseph Francis Bihag and Jason Ming Lead Consultant, ThoughtWorks.
Coffee break
Delivering the promise (part 2): Dag Rasmussen, CEO, Lagardère Travel Retail
The contract gain at Abu Dhabi’s new Midfield Terminal is the Paris-based company’s first major entry into the Middle East market. How will it adapt its commercial strategy to the demands and challenges of the region? Lagardère Travel Retail CEO Dag Rasmussen will explain how the Middle East is at the heart of the retailer’s development plans.
Delivering the promise (part 1): Dubai in focus
Neck and neck with Seoul Incheon in a bid to be the world’s number-one duty free location by sales, Dubai International Airport has undergone a facelift recently with the opening of the new concourse D. And with the gradual build-up of passenger traffic at Al Maktoum International Airport, the aviation industry in the emirate continues to flourish. Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin will discuss the opportunities ahead at a time of change at the Middle East’s leading travel retailer.
Middle East at the crossroads
At a challenging time for tourism in the region, how does the UNWTO see the prospects for inbound and outbound traffic? What more can the travel industry do to drive growth in tough circumstances?
UNWTO Regional Director Middle East Amr Abdel Ghaffar will update delegates on travel trends and explain how the tourism business is vital for prosperity and peace.
