The annual Conference of the Middle East Duty Free Association will focus on key factors which influence the growth of travel retail such as…
The annual Conference of the Middle East Duty Free Association will focus on key factors which influence the growth of travel retail such as airline and schedule development, supplier/retailer partnerships, and the potential benefits of sub-letting shops.
The two-day MEDFA Conference, which is managed by TFWA with the assistance of Moodie International, will be staged in the Al Bustan Rotana hotel in Dubai on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th November 2004 and will take the theme `Growing the business together`.
The President of MEDFA will open the Conference with an address on the `State of the Regional Industry` and the TFWA President will place `MEDFA within the Global Industry`.
Keynote speaker Peter Harbison, Managing Director, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation will present `The Impact of Airline Development on the Middle East` which will be followed by a discussion among expert panellists including Abdul Wahab Teffaha, Secretary General of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation, Mohamed Mounib, Abu Dhabi Duty Free Managing Director and President MEDFA, and Allen Burnett, British Airways Middle East Manager.
The impact of airline schedules on retail planning will then be investigated by Duncan Alexander, Managing Director of OAG Data, the world`s biggest source of global flight schedule information.
Panellists Nadine Heubel, Hugo Boss Travel Retail Director and Gerry Crawford, Aer Rianta International Middle East Regional Procurement & Logistics Manager will assess the relative merits of specialist and anchor stores in `Subletting Specialist Shops – Pros & Cons`.
In `Partnership: The Suppliers` Perspective`, four category leaders will discuss what partnership means to them. Speakers will include David Freeborn, Pernod Ricard Gulf General Manager, Graeme Bradstock, Head of Middle East/Africa/Indian Sub-Continent for Lindt, and Salim Mohammed, Area Manager Duty Free, Middle East & Asia South Region, Philip Morris Services.
Habchi & Chalhoub Managing Director Anthony Chalhoub will present a case study on the exciting new developments at Cairo International Airport and Dubai-based independent retail consultant Mark Venables will deliver his perspective on how travel retail could be augmented in the region as a whole.
With an analysis of the role of technological developments in the development of travel retail, and an assessment of the impact of currency movements by Sarah Hewin, Senior Economist, American Express Bank Global Economics Unit, the MEDFA Conference will prove to be a key forum for retailers and suppliers to travel retail in the Middle East.
Mohammed Mounib, President MEDFA and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Duty Free: The content of this conference programme is more regional in focus than ever before. Of course we trade in a global marketplace, but the regional issues we`re covering in this year`s event are vital to doing business in this part of the world. Anyone doing business or wanting to do business in the Middle East will not be disappointed.
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