John founded Hume Brophy in 2005, along with Eoin Brophy which they successfully built into one of the fastest growing and most successful global communications agencies that was acquired by Penta Group in 2023.

As co-founder of the firm, John built an international team of public affairs and communications specialists that are relied upon by many of the world’s largest and most prestigious companies.

He specialises in developing and executing international government and societal engagement campaigns, primarily in the aviation and food and drink sectors.

Prior to founding Hume Brophy, he was Deputy Director General of Airports Council International Europe. He also held a number of senior positions within the global duty-free industry.

John is currently a Board Director of Prime Arena Holdings in Ireland and is Chair of the John and Pat Hume Foundation for Peace & Reconciliation.

Born in 1979 in Northern Germany, Dr. Jennifer Cords has lived, studied and worked in Germany, the Netherlands, the US and Canada.

In her early career Jennifer worked to promote Northern Germany’s economic landscape (especially car, meat and retail industry) in Hannover, Berlin and Brussels. She officially toured Canada and the US seeking matching investors for Germany in 2010, working with embassies, Ministries of Economy, the Goethe Institute and Rotary International.

That year she joined Imperial Brands, the fourth-largest tobacco company in the world, promoting the concept of tax-free shopping internationally. She is an expert for all designated duty free areas such as airports, border stores, military, airlines, diplomatic stores, ferries and cruises. In 2012 her scope widened to include Corporate Affairs, overseeing business compliance and Imperial’s global export business.

In September 2018 Jennifer joined Gebr. Heinemann as Director Corporate Affairs & Compliance. In this role, Jennifer reports directly to CEO Max Heinemann and heads up internal and external communications as well as compliance, regulatory risk management and all corporate responsibility issues, including the global UN-reporting of the company.

Jennifer also represents the interests of travel retail in various associations, and serves as Vice President Regulatory Affairs of the European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC). In this role she creates dialogue about the value travel retail brings to the travel industry, such as passenger rights, a secure supply chain, non-aeronautical revenue, freedom of choice and the free movement of goods and people.

Sandra Uwera is a regional expert in private sector development, with 20 years’ experience in senior management positions in Eastern and Southern Africa.  She currently leads the COMESA Business Council, a leading regional business member services organization and a recognized private sector institution of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Her current roles include governance, strategic, administrative, programmes, operations and stakeholder management of the institution. Passionate about female empowerment, she has driven projects on gender inclusion within the digital financial services space, with a keen focus on women economic empowerment in trade across the COMESA region.

She has successfully developed and implemented programs and projects that have increased profitability and sustainability and increased regional ownership and recognition of the CBC, as one of the leading Regional Business Services Organizations in Africa.

Sandra sits on the board for ECOMARK Africa, Minerals Africa Development Institute (MADI), and the Women’s Economic Empowerment – Financial Inclusion Advisory Council. She is also an Eisenhower and Thomas McGabe Fellow. Sandra has also founded the MWELL Project, advocating for mental health.

Sandra holds an MSc in Strategic Planning, advanced training in International Trade Policy and Law, and a BA in Corporate Communications.

Richard joined Aer Rianta International (ARI) in August 2019 as the CEO for ARI Middle East (ARIME). Prior to joining ARIME, Richard spent many years with Morrisons Supermarkets in the UK, where he held a variety of management roles, including Regional Managing Director and Central Retail Operations Director. Based throughout the UK, Richard established a reputation for consistently delivering strong results and successfully leading large and complex cross-functional projects. Richard also led a number of business improvement initiatives to improve productivity, resulting in significant multi-million-pound savings for the company.

Latterly, Richard enjoyed a successful tenure as Group Operations and Marketing Director for Ridgeon’s, a regional timber and builders’ merchants in the UK, where he developed new brands, new marketing initiatives and identity programmes to drive sales as well as improving systems, operations and efficiency.

Richard is now based in Bahrain and sits on numerous Boards within the region as well as within Europe. He is Chairman of a F&B business in addition to his role as CEO of the ARIME, while also serving on the executive team of ARI in Dublin.

Bassam Al Wardi became CEO of Bahrain Duty Free in January 2021. Prior to taking up this important role, he held various senior management positions within the company, including Deputy General Manager, followed by General Manager, and onto his current position.

Bassam has extensive experience in leading a large team and spearheading reputed businesses. With an MBA in Business Administration from Hull University in the UK, Bassam has previously been on the Member of Board of Directors at Baytik Industrial Oasis as well as the General Manager at Bahrain International Retail Development. In both roles, he played a key part in helping to successfully reposition and grow the business services that these companies offered.

In the late 1990’s, Bassam embarked on a nine and a half year-journey with Bahrain Duty Free Shops as the Head of HR & Marketing. He has now been a valued member of the Bahrain Duty Free team for over 18 years.

Isaías Díaz is the General Manager for Africa at Avolta. He oversees the retailer’s operations on the African continent covering Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Tunis and Nigeria.

Previously, Isaias served as Operations Deputy Director at World Duty Free Group for Southern Europe & America until the company was fully integrated within Dufry-Avolta. And, also, he was part of Dufry’s Human Resources team managing Southern Europe and Africa.

Isaías graduated with a Law Degree at the University Complutense (Madrid). He also holds Master’s degrees in Business Administration from IE Business School (Madrid) and in Marketing and Commercial from ESIC Business School, also in Madrid.

François Bourienne joined Abu Dhabi Airports as Chief Commercial Officer and Member of the Executive Committee in May 2021. He oversees all commercial activities across the airports group, ensuring that stakeholders and customers using Abu Dhabi Airports benefit from the company’s array of sophisticated commercial offerings.

Previously, François held the position as Chief Commercial Officer Airport for Glasgow Airport and AGS Airports. During his time there François successfully grew traffic and revenue for both Glasgow and AGS Airports alongside bringing new airlines, retailers and retail concepts to the airports. In parallel he served as Chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum and a Board Member of the European Travel Retail Confederation.

With a career spanning over 20 years, François was previously at The Nuance Group, a worldwide leader in travel retail. He began his career working in business consultancy with ORMIS, Accenture and Bain & Company.

François holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the business school INSEAD, alongside a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Business Law from EM Lyon.

Naledi K. Khabo is a strategy leader with 25 years of experience in operations, marketing & technology. Having developed and implemented countless of global innovative multimedia brand initiatives, she combines business and technology acumen with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for practical business applications.

A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Industrial Engineering, Naledi began her career as an analyst at Accenture, specializing in implementing global business and technology solutions. In 2006 Naledi joined ICED Media, a digital pioneer. Following her tenure at ICED, she served as Chief of Staff at the United States Small Business Administration My Brothers Keeper Millennial Entrepreneurial Initiative. My Brother’s Keeper was former United States’ President Barack Obama’s national initiative to increase the awareness of millennial entrepreneurship in the areas of music, fashion, film, and sports.

Naledi most recently brought her enthusiasm for innovative strategy, marketing, and technology to service global organizations focused on economic development and growth across Africa, engaging stakeholders ranging from small and medium enterprise owners to tourism Ministries and African Union Commission. She currently serves as chief executive at the Africa Tourism Association (ATA), a global trade association promoting travel and tourism to Africa and strengthening intra-Africa partnerships.

Naledi is cofounder of The Collective & Travel Is Better In Color, organizations driving inclusive engagement across the industry.

Manoj Kuriakose has served as Regional Director – JV Integration MEAI for Delta Air Lines since July 2019. He is responsible for driving the strategy and planning for Delta’s joint venture integration with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic for the Middle East, Africa & India (MEAI) markets.

Previously at Delta, Manoj led the commercial sales team for 13 countries as Commercial Director – Middle East & Southern Africa. During this period, he was instrumental in building Delta’s footprint in the Middle East region and successfully executed Delta’s three-year turnaround strategy for South Africa. He joined Delta in May 2007 as Commercial Manager UAE to set up Delta’s Dubai/Atlanta service.

With over 27 years of airline and travel industry experience, Manoj has a deep understanding of the aviation and business environment in the Middle East, Africa and Indian-Subcontinent regions.

Manoj holds a Master’s in Business Administration from University of Strathclyde, UK and an IATA Diploma in Airline Studies. He is currently based in Dubai, UAE.