L-R: Philippe Margueritte and Sarah Branquinho.

Tax Free World Association (TFWA) has announced that its Presidential Election will now take place on Thursday 11 December, rather than Friday 12 December, as previously communicated.

On this date, the Management Committee (MC) will convene to elect a President for the upcoming term. In accordance with its statutes, the one-year mandate will run until December 2026.

Those confirmed to be in the running are current President Philippe Margueritte, who was elected in December 2024.

It has also been confirmed directly to TRBusiness that Sarah Branquinho – External Affairs Advisor at Avolta; President of Duty Free World Council; and Chair of Women in Travel Retail+ – is also standing for election.

The deadline for any prospective candidates from outside the MC to submit their candidacy has now passed (individuals were required to submit their candidacy to TFWA no later than 14 November).

However, MC members may submit their candidacy up until the day of the election.

There are 39 members of the MC currently listed on the TFWA website. Last year saw Sam Gerber, TFWA Vice-President Corporate and Member Services and Managing Partner & Head Of Sales and Marketing at WorldConnect, publicly declare his candidacy during the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference closing press conference. However, TRBusiness is informed that he does not intend to run this year.

Stay close to TRBusiness for updates as we know them, including the result.

In the meantime, TRBusiness sat down with Philippe Margueritte in Cannes to discuss how we could expect to see the format for the industry’s global summit continue to evolve, the outlook for the duty free and travel retail industry in 2026, and to find out more about plans for addressing the industry data challenge, plus more…

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