Left: Thabet Musleh, Chief Retail and Hospitality Officer, Qatar Airways Group. Right: Souq Al Matar.

Qatar Duty Free (QDF) is further fuelling its vibrant growth trajectory with an exciting pipeline of projects, from the launch of its e-commerce platform to the opening of Concourses D and E. Thabet Musleh, Chief Retail and Hospitality Officer, Qatar Airways Group, brings TRBusiness up to date….

Qatar Airways Group celebrated a record-breaking net profit of QAR6.1 billion (US$1.7bn) for the 2023/24 financial year (ended 31 March 2024) with total revenue at QAR81 billion ($22.2bn). Revenue from the sale of duty free goods and beverages was QAR3.139 billion compared to QAR3 billion (yoy). How are you aiming to grow this moving forward? 

Thabet Musleh: Those of you who have been following our company throughout the years know that figures are not a number one priority for Qatar Duty Free. Our motto is quality over quantity.

At the end of the day, we exist to cater to our passengers. When a passenger is flying through Hamad Airport, we focus on making sure that they can find exactly what they need. If they want luxury, we have it…. affordability, we have it.

We aim to deliver experience-led hospitality, providing unique experiences that our travellers can’t find anywhere else. We’re also committed to constantly ensuring that we offer something for everyone, no matter their tastes, needs or budget. And we’re continuing to elevate our sense of place offerings throughout the airport.

TRBusiness was on location for the opening of The Dior Luxury Beauty Retreat in May.

What do new generation travelling consumers expect from airport shopping and dining?

Customer experience makes up a big part of our brand identity. It’s what we do best. I always emphasise that our customers are at the core of everything we do. We prioritise understanding customer needs, keeping up with market trends, and providing exceptional services. That’s the foundation of QDF’s success. My team and I are always on the ground. This helps us understand our customers and their needs. 

In the past, prices and promotions were strong factors influencing customer purchases, and they still are for many of our customers. But today, experiences are dominating the travel retail narrative. Younger/Gen Z travellers are now looking for ‘Instagram-worthy’ experiences. 

We have passengers who specifically book business or first-class tickets with Qatar Airways just to experience the world’s first and only Louis Vuitton Lounge – only available at Hamad International Airport. They choose to transit through our airport just to experience this exclusive offering.

[The] Dior Luxury Beauty Retreat was also all over social media when it first launched. We were fully booked for the first month on the day we opened to the public. 

We also introduced the first Dior Barbershop in the world, which has been a great success so far. Only passengers travelling through Hamad International Airport, and no one else, can get a fresh cut at the Dior Barbershop.

We have Souq Al Matar as well, which is very aesthetic, unique and experience-led. Our customers love to lounge at the Souq’s Arabic seating, take photos and sip on a hot cup of karak. Now you tell me… have you seen any other airport offering experiences like that?

The Harrods Tea Room at DOH offers a selection of teas from Londons famous Harrods Food Halls, along with pastries, ice cream and more.

QDF’s sales turnover increased by over 22% in fiscal year 2023/24 (compared to 2022/23) – where is QDF in its growth trajectory and is it the goal to sustain double-digit growth for the foreseeable?

We’re seeing more and more passengers choose Qatar Airways not just for the great service on board, but because they know they’ll have amazing experiences at our airport. Recently, Hamad International Airport reported serving 4.73 million passengers this July, which is just over a 10% increase from last year. This is record-breaking, and I’m very happy to see these numbers because they directly boost QDF’s success as well. I’m also looking forward to the opening of Concourses D and E, which will bring in even more revenue for us.

Overall, though, we aspire to keep our customers happy. That’s our main goal as a business. QDF is very experience-led and customer-centric. Our focus is on providing the best possible experience for our customers, not on being the biggest company out there. As long as our customers are happy, we’re confident we’ll keep growing strong and also achieving groundbreaking numbers.

Ed’s note: According to the latest traffic figures for DOH (released 28 October), July maintains the crown as the airport’s busiest month ever. The airport served 13.7 million passengers in Q3 2024, reflecting 7.9% growth compared to the same period last year. Point-to-point traffic was up by 11.7%.

The Louis Vuitton Lounge by Yannick Alléno at DOH is open around-the-clock, with access exclusively for Qatar Airways First and Business class passengers, as well as Privilege Club Platinum and Gold members and invited VIP Louise Vuitton customers.

QDF is known as a launchpad for experiences that travellers can’t find anywhere else – what can we expect to see brought to life in the near future?

For those who know us and how we work, you know that we’re always on the move. We have several more projects in the works for this year, and our sights are already set on 2025 and 2026. We’re working on amazing collaborations with big brands, and we can’t wait to show you all the final outcome.

Souq Al Matar is designed to evoke the ambience and retail and dining experiences ones can enjoy at a traditional Qatari Souk.

What categories or service areas have the biggest potential for development?

I’d say that P&C, fashion and sunglasses have great potential for development. We have introduced unique concepts, particularly within these categories, in the past few years. 

Our P&C offer is huge, and we continuously introduce unique, exclusive concepts worldwide. As we speak, we are hosting a 365 interactive YSL summer campaign at the airport with various touchpoints and an exciting customer experience.

We recently put a strong emphasis on affordable mid-priced luxury fashion, making sure we have something for everyone. This approach has helped boost our fashion sales.  

This summer alone, we celebrated the opening of a multi-brand eyewear concept with Thelios and launched a standalone digital retail concept store with Kering Eyewear. I’m eager for even more activations in the sunglasses category.

On the other hand, gold prices worldwide have been struggling lately, which has affected our gold sales. I’m hoping to see a rebound in gold prices soon, which would hopefully lead to a boost in sales in this area.

QDF launched a standalone digital retail concept store with Kering Eyewear. earlier this year.

Is QDF’s e-commerce offering still on track to launch in Q4 2024 – can you tell us what to expect?

We’re starting a soft launch of the e-commerce platform very soon. The full launch will take place at the right time when we truly believe that the outcome meets our ambitious standards. My team and I are perfectionists. We like to do things right.

What are the biggest challenges you are currently facing and how are you navigating them? 

I am ambitious about the future of our industry and have strong and very high expectations. Travel retail has experienced so many ups and downs, yet we all stay determined.

A version of this article first appeared in the 2024 Top 10 International Operators report. 

Please click here to view a video interview filmed on location at the 2024 TRWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes.

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