Duty Free Americas President, Leon Falic told TRBusiness that 2016 as a whole was both challenging and interesting, but also productive.

 

“I thought it would be worse,” he says. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be; it was ok, but it could have been better. It could always be better and it could always be worse. I think we are already gaining some ground this year, so we’ll see how it goes.”

 

As he says, DFA was able to ‘gain ground’ in 2016 and increased its sales to a little over $1.4bn from $1.3bn (a growth of around 7.7%).

 

However, huge ongoing political changes attributed to the US Presidential election and the fallout of Brexit – just two factors – makes Leon Falic more uncertain about the company’s performance in 2017.

 

EXPANSION IN BRAZIL

“I think that the world is changing and I think our business depends on that. It’s a global business. We cater to customers from many countries so I think it’s going to be interesting. How are we going to do? I don’t know, but I think it’s going to be interesting.”

 

As explored in an in-depth interview with Falic in the March issue of TRBusiness, DFA made quick work of its expansion into Brazil last year, winning contracts in São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Manaus and Maceió airports, which is impressive considering it only entered the Brazilian market for the first time in 2014.

 

The first duty free concession contract in Brazil, for Afonso Pena International Airport in Curitiba, was considered a milestone for the company who expressed ambitions to open in other Brazilian locations at the time.

 

In just under two years the company managed to add four more Brazilian airports to its network and brought the number of its retail venues (open or under construction) throughout Brazil, to 18.

 

Read the full-length interview with Leon Falic in the March issue of TRBusiness magazine.