Meadfa 2014 conference emphasises Dubai Expo 2020

By Kevin Rozario |

This year’s Meadfa Conference will focus strongly on the retail opportunities that will arise – both in the UAE and across the region – from the preparations being made in Dubai to host Expo 2020. These include enhancements to the emirate’s transport infrastructure as part of its bid to be the world’s air transport hub.

 

The Meadfa Conference 2014 – organised by Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (Meadfa) and TFWA – will be staged at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Dubai on 24-25 November.

 

Following a welcome from Meadfa President, Sean Staunton (left), there will be an opening address by Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism & Commerce Marketing, who will outline Dubai’s plans to become a world leader in tourism. The conference will also hear from Dubai Airports on the development of Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC) and what it claims is a “totally new approach” to the way in which services are delivered to customers..

 

Infrastructure developments and the commercial vision for Abu Dhabi’s new Midfield Terminal will also be presented by Abu Dhabi Airports Company Senior Vice-President Business Development Dan Cappell (right).

 

Broadening the scope of the conference, in the ‘Retail Reinvented’ session, Matthew Brown of retail consultancy Echochamber will explore how travel retail can learn from the latest commercial concepts and sales techniques in domestic markets worldwide.

 

INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS

Two concurrent workshops will provide delegates with the opportunity to engage directly with experts. Workshop A ‘Inflight: to the next level’ will examine the potential for inflight retail from new developments in technology and connectivity with regard to marketing, customer engagement, product range and assortment display. Speakers will include channel experts including Inflight Service Director of Business Development John Baumgartner.

 

Workshop B ‘Understanding BRIC Travellers’ will draw on the latest TFWA research into the shopping behaviour of travellers from Brazil, Russia, India and China and discuss whether the airport retail offer is adapted to their needs. Garry Stasiulevicuis (left) of Counter Intelligence Retail will present highlights of the research, with further insights provided by Gebr Heinemann Executive Director Peter Irion and Simone Horn from Imperial Tobacco.

 

Delegate interaction will also be central to The MEADFA Debate, a session in which two ‘teams’ will contest the motion ‘Do retailers do enough to support premium brands in Middle Eastern airport retail?’. Delegates will be encouraged to voice their opinion via electronic tablets, allowing them to take part in real-time votes and to make their points direct to the moderators.

 

DAY 2

Africa will be the focus of the opening session on day two in the session called ‘Reimagining Africa’. Branding expert Thebe Ikalafeng will look at how international brands can adapt their offer to the wave of affluent African consumers. The session will also feature comment from two travel retail executives with experience in the region: Arnaud Piorkowski of Philip Morris and Blacky Komani of Tourvest.

 

Retail at borders, seaports, diplomatic stores and on ferries will be examined in ‘New Frontiers’ with testimony from retailers in these sectors.

 

The session ‘Challenges to growth in the Middle East’ will feature a run-down of the regulatory and legislative threats currently posed in the travel retail domain.

 

Sean Staunton, President Meadfa, comments: “The 2014 programme is a mix of presentation and debate, information gathering and networking. We will welcome a very strong line-up of eminent speakers who will help us to navigate through the facts, the figures and what we believe is the very positive future we face. In this region we are seeing sustained growth in passenger numbers, exciting infrastructure developments and extraordinary evolution in the retail environment.”

 

[The official carrier for the Meadfa conference is Emirates and the Gala Dinner sponsor is Dubai Duty Free. The Welcoming Cocktail is provided by Dufry Sharjah and the coffee breaks by Nestle and Mars ITR. Confirmed Platinum Sponsors are Aer Rianta Middle East International, Airstyle Travel Retail, Bahrain Duty Free, Gebr Heinemann and Pernod Ricard; Gold Sponsors are Ferrero, Kings Tobacco International and Tourvest Duty Free; Silver Sponsors are Gulf Beverages and Tyko Travel Retail; Lanyard sponsor is LS Travel Retail.]

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