MEADFA President Abdeslam Agzoul opened the MEADFA Conference 2025 in Dubai (9-11 November).

MEADFA President Abdeslam Agzoul opened the association’s conference this morning with welcome remarks that underscored how the spirit of collaboration and optimism in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is propelling the duty free and travel retail (DF&TR) industry in the region towards exciting times ahead.

Addressing a packed room of more than 700 registered delegates – the largest attendance ever recorded for a MEADFA Conference – Agzoul (who is also CEO Middle East & Africa at Avolta) welcomed attendees to Dubai, which he described as “perhaps the capital of duty free in the region”. With this in mind, he paid his respects to the late, great Colm McLoughlin.

“This is the largest attendance we have ever welcomed to a MEADFA Conference, which is a source of great satisfaction for us all,” he said.

“This record attendance is a strong sign of [the] underlying strength of our industry in the Middle East and Africa and also of the enduring attraction of Dubai”.

The 2025 MEADFA Conference has attracted more than 700 registered delegates.

He went on to highlight the work of his MEADFA President predecessors, Haitham Al Majali, CEO of Jordanian Duty Free Shops, Sherif Toulan, CEO of IDF, and Rob Marriott (formerly of ARI), as well as the various Board Members for their hard work serving the association and its members over the years.

“Our association’s strength is in our diversity,” he said. “If we are to be effective in our effort to promote the industry in a large and vibrant region we have to show that we are truly representative to the entire market.”

Agzoul highlighted advocacy, training and ESG as key strands of how MEADFA supports its members.

“Our effort to strengthen the work of the association comes at a time when there is understandable concern for the short-term future of our industry,” he said.

“Geopolitical and economic uncertainty affected us over the last year in MEA, as it does in other regions of the world. But the facts suggest that there has never been a more exciting time to invest in travel retail in MEA.”

MEADFA President Abdeslam Agzoul thanked the Board Members for their hard work.

As a case in point, Agzoul mentioned how Dubai International Airport retained its position as the number one airport for international passengers in 2024 (according to ACI World’s Busiest Airports ranking).

“DXB will surely break 100 million passengers [per annum] very soon,” he asserted, while also pointing to opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

“This year, we welcomed the creation of a new travel retailer – Al Waha – the first Saudi-owned duty-free operator. Al Waha will help ensure the Kingdom fulfils its untapped potential in travel retail, with help of the ambitious travel and tourism ambitions for Saudi Arabia.

“This is in part driven by the emergence of Riyadh Air, which is now beginning to serve international destinations from its base in Saudi Arabia.

“Connectivity is indeed central to our business, as is the development of infrastructure. Among the many exciting new projects in Africa, I would like to mention the Moroccan strategy Airports 2030.

He continued: “In Egypt, the government has confirmed its ambition to privatise 11 airports. By partnering with the private sectors, the government plans to bring about a step-change in the quality of the Egyptian aviation infrastructure – thus improving productivity and enhancing the country’s attractiveness as a tourist destination.”

MEADFA President Abdeslam Agzoul described MEADFA as the home of DF&TR in the MEA region. 

To wrap up, he spoke if his own “simple” ambitions for the association as President, to welcome all types of stakeholders in the region.

“There is an increasing understanding that if we are to adapt to a changing world and to the needs of a new generation of travellers, we cannot work in a vacuum. We need to ensure a greater understanding and more meaningful collaboration between industry stakeholders to ensure we capitalise on the existing new developments I mentioned earlier.

“As the home of the travel retail industry in the region, MEADFA can and must play a role in encouraging that spirit of collaboration. Yes, many of us in that room are competitors but we face the same challenges.

“By pooling our resources and experiences, and those of our business partners, we have a much greater chance of overcoming those challenges.

“This event gives us an opportunity to exchange ideas and confront issues as well as to renew old friendships. Let us use that use that opportunity to the full.”

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