Sarah Branquinho, President, Duty Free World Council, which oversees the Academy.

Qatar Duty Free (QDF) has become the largest participant of the Duty Free World Council Academy’s (DFWCA) Certificate in Duty Free and Travel Retail after signing up 50 key team members.

The not-for-profit DFWCA was created in 2016 under the auspices of Duty Free World Council to elevate industry expertise and sales experience through responsible retailing online training courses.

The courses, which include free-of-charge and paid options, cover the comprehensive certificate course to open-to-all training in key categories, delivered through a partnership with ACI World Training’s Online Learning Centre.

Sarah Branquinho, President of DFWC said: “I am delighted to welcome Thabet Musleh’s team to the Certificate Course programme and know that they will also be providing us with the valuable and ongoing feedback that allows us to constantly improve content and delivery.

Thabet Musleh, Chief Retail and Hospitality Officer, Qatar Airways: “Our staff are the heart and soul of our business’s success.”

“The Academy has made great progress in the last year with fantastic course registration numbers in 2024. It is encouraging to see that retailers like QDF, brands and agencies alike are putting some traction behind training their teams in an industry leading way.”

Thabet Musleh, Chief Retail and Hospitality Officer at Qatar Airways who leads the group’s retail and food and beverage offer and oversees more than 5,000 employees, said: “Our staff are the heart and soul of our business’s success, and investing in them is one of our greatest priorities. At Qatar Duty Free, focusing on people and responsible retailing is crucial to our retail strategy.

“We are proud to select 50 of our top team members for certified courses offered by the Duty Free World Council Academy. Together, we will continue to develop our teams and elevate the industry even further.”

More than 7,000 students have passed through the Academy’s portal over the past four years with 3,000 courses completed in 2024.

The courses are designed to complement existing in house training provided by employers with a holistic view of the global industry to support career development, while raising standards and increasing retention.

They benefit from a broad cross-section of industry knowledge with input from leading retailers and brands across all the major product categories set against global perspectives from DFWC and TFWA.

Meanwhile, key industry stakeholders on the advisory board led by experienced travel retail executive Sue Gosling offer constant feedback on course content.

DFWCA says its vision is ‘to provide a responsible global training benchmark across duty free and travel retail businesses – on land, air and sea’.

Leading retailers sending team members on courses include Avolta, 3Sixty Duty Free and Dubai Duty Free, along with Harding+. New courses are being planned for 2025.