The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) Awards will return at the association’s conference at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra, Ghana on 19-21 November.

Recognising excellence and innovation in travel retail within the region, the MEADFA Awards will be announced on 20 November during the Gala Dinner sponsored by Dufry.

The inaugural MEADFA Awards took place at the Art Hotel & Resort in Bahrain (27-29 November, 2022). For the winners, click here.

The 2023 categories can be found below. As last year, each submitted entry will be reviewed and evaluated by the MEADFA Awards committee in advance of entries being scored by an independent panel of judges.

The MEADFA Awards Committee consists of the following: Dr Bernard Creed, Treasurer; Isaias Diaz, Board Member; Rob Marriott, Vice President; Sherif Toulan, President; and Micheline El Ammar, Operations Manager.

Sherif Toulan, President, MEADFA said: “Embracing the spirit of collaboration and creativity, the MEADFA Awards praise the perseverance of those who have transformed challenges into significant achievements for success.”

Bernard Creed, MEADFA Treasurer and Awards Committee Chair, added: “The awards committee extends an invitation to all companies, encouraging them to showcase their exceptional accomplishments across a diverse range of business domains.”

The categories

Best Retailer Award: Honouring leading organisations that have demonstrated excellence across their business, continue to innovate in offering outstanding customer service and have provided a notable contribution to travel retail’s development in ME&A.

Best in Marketing Strategy of the Year Award: Recognising companies that lead with their marketing approaches towards adaptable and customer-driven engagement. The award highlights the use of new and innovative platforms using dynamic content to engage with consumers.

Sustainability and CSR Award (Entries can fall into one or all of the following):

Best Green Achiever

Best Sustainable Brand

Sustainable Retailer of the Year

Best CSR Performance

Customer & Supplier Awards (Entries can fall into one or all of the following sub-categories):

Outstanding Achievement in Customer Satisfaction

Innovative Supplier of the Year

Excellence in Supplier Collaboration

Lifetime Achievement Award (no entry required)

MEADFA will honour an outstanding leader that has made a remarkable contribution to the overall travel retail environment, promoted strong leadership, supports people and significantly impacted the overall sustainability, strategy, cultuire and development of the industry.

For details on how to enter, contact: [email protected]