2008 Speakers
H.E. Khalifa Mohamed Al Mazrouei - Keynote speaker

H.E. Khalifa Mohamed Al Mazrouei was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) in 2006. ADAC has recently taken over the operations and management of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Airports as part of its mandate. H.E. Al Mazrouei has been the Chairman, since 2004, of the Supervision Committee for the Expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport (SCADIA), which manages the implementation of the multibillion-dirham expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Prior to his current position H.E. Al Mazrouei managed a number of projects at Mubadala (formerly UAE Offsets Group). These included comprehensive market, operational and financial due diligences and strategic assessment operational audits and re-structuring plans. H.E. Al Mazrouei managed the implementation of several such projects, including the strategic assessment operational audit and re-organization services for Emirates Media; and undergoing a development plan for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Airports.
Henrik Andersen

Managing Director SSP Middle East & India
Since joining SSP 20 years ago, Henrik has held several senior positions within SSP, where he has built up considerable expertise in the areas of commercial and business development, project management and general management.
Henrik has played a central role in the establishment of several major mobilisation projects within SSP, most notably project managing the establishment of SSP Asia Pacific in 1997-99, from Singapore. More recently, he was Vice President Finance of SSP Global and then latterly Commercial Director Central Europe & Middle East from 2004-07, based in Frankfurt. Henrik was given responsibility for establishing SSP’s strategically important Middle East and India business in 2007.
Henrik has a degree from Copenhagen Business School and is an Insead Management School alumni. Henrik is fluent in Danish, English and German. He lives with his family in Dubai.
Peter Baumgartner

Executive Vice President Marketing and Product of Etihad airways
As EVP marketing and product, Peter Baumgartner is responsible for Etihad’s marketing communication, customer relationship management, advertising, sponsorship, product and service development, brand management and eCommerce.
He is also the guiding force behind the airline’s pioneering loyalty programme, Etihad Guest, which has redefined traditional frequent flier programmes by placing a strong emphasis on intuitively understanding and fulfilling Guest expectations.
Peter brings with him a wealth of experience in various aspects of the aviation business, with specific expertise in customer relationship management and marketing development.
He has held a number of senior roles within the Belgian and Swiss aviation industries, specialising in the area of customer relationship management and marketing. These include high-level positions at Swiss International Air Lines, where he was responsible for marketing development based at Zurich International Airport.
Peter joined Etihad Airways in April 2004 and has managed the airline’s intense global marketing efforts during a period of rapid growth, both in terms of network expansion and introduction of new product innovations.
Patrick Bouchard

General Manager Travel Retail, Puig Beauty & Fashion Group
Patrick has been working in the Perfume & Cosmetics industry for the last 12 years after 3 years in the Wine & Spirit industry.
He has held several executive positions within Puig Beauty & Fashion Group whose portfolio includes among other the brands Carolina Herrera, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, and the perfume licence of Prada.
He has extensive international experience and a very focused and knowledgeable vision of the worldwide travel retail business model. In 1999, he set-up Puig Middle East in Dubai and became General Manager. During this period, he established a Travel retail unit devoted to the Middle East region and a dedicated sales and marketing organization in Saudi Arabia.
In 2004, he moved to Singapore where he became Managing Director of Puig Asia Pacific.
In 2006, Patrick moved to the Puig headquarters in Barcelona to create and manage the worldwide Travel Retail unit of the group. Today his main objective is to implement with his Travel Retail clients a customer relationship model based on partnership, category management and shoppers understanding.
Stuart Bull

Global ITR Consultant, Mars Inc
After 27 years with Mars in various Sales and Marketing roles around the world Bull left the company in 1996 to set up Stuart Bull Associates, an international marketing consultancy based in London.
Invited back to advise Mars in 1997 on the ITR market SBA’s role has developed and broadened as the Mars Inc’s (later to become Masterfoods’) ITR business has grown year after year.
The particular geographical speciality of SBA is the Middle East, Africa and the Indian sub-continent, where he has been doing business for nearly thirty years in both Duty Free and Domestic markets.
Dan Cappell

Vice President non-aeronautical revenues
Abu Dhabi Airport Company
Dan Cappell has experience on both sides of the table having spent 22 years with Nestle SA the last ten as General Manager of Nestle International Travel Retail before moving to the Middle East in 2002 as Deputy Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Duty Free & Inflight catering.
Dan joined Aer Rianta International Middle East in June 2006 as General Manager Operations and was responsible for Group procurement, commercial strategy and development across the region. Dan returned to Abu Dhabi Duty Free as General Manager in November 2007 and has since been appointed Abu Dhabi Airports Company’s VP non-aeronautical revenues.
Dan cites playing golf badly, cooking and reading as his main forms of relaxation.
Ian Cesa

President of Horizon Consumer Science and Director of Research, DFS Group Limited
Dr. Cesa has been involved in consumer science for more than20 years. He has been focusing on travel retail for more than 15 years and has helped various retailers and brand companies in their business strategies. Horizon Consumer Science (HCS) is a consumer science organization focusing on travel retail since the beginning of the decade. HCS has recently entered into an agreement to conduct research studies on behalf ofTFWA. Dr. Cesa holds a BA (Hons) degree in Psychology from the University of Melbourne, and MA and Ph.D. degrees in Social Psychology from the University of Southern California. He is currently President of the University of Melbourne USA Foundation. He lives in Los Angeles.
Anthony Chalhoub - President, MEDFA
Joint Chief Executive of the Chalhoub Group
Anthony Chalhoub is currently joint Chief Executive Officer of the Chalhoub Group and General Manager of four luxury brand distribution companies in the region: Habchi & Chalhoub, the Louis Vuitton joint venture, MAC and Fitra.
It was in 1975 that Anthony joined the Group founded and managed by his father, immersing himself in business life by moving to Kuwait where his parents had already been working for several years developing Franco-Kuwaiti relations. He worked hard to promote and gain acceptance from the prominent names in perfumes, high fashion and jewelry.
Mindful of maintaining the image of the brands that placed their trust in him and to keep France's high profile in the Middle East; he has performed all his functions as Overseas Trade Counselor starting in 1991 and took an active part in the "France in Kuwait" exhibitions of 1991, 1994, 1996 and 2004.
David Francis

World Wide Duty Free General Management
David Francis, 53 years, a native English has worked in Gallaher Limited for more than three decades (since 1977). After holding a wide variety of positions in sales and marketing he was appointed National Account Director for the UK market in 2000.
He was appointed International Travel Retail Director in 2003.
Following the acquisition of Gallaher by JTI in 2007 he was appointed C & TM Director Western Europe & Middle East Duty Free. In March 2008 he took the lead for the JTI Worldwide Duty Free business.
He is married with two children.
Mahesh Govind

Assistant General Manager Retail, Airports Company South Africa Ltd
Mahesh Govind is a qualified Chartered accountant. He has been with ACSA for over ten years. He was Manager: Finance at O R Tambo International Airport for the first four years, spent the next two years looking after all the commercial activities at O R Tambo before taking up his current role as head of Retail for all ACSA airports being based at the ACSA corporate office. His responsibilities are to maximise non-aeronautical revenue streams which covers the retail stores, car parking and car rentals. He is also involved in supporting a division of ACSA which is dedicated to leveraging value internationally from ACSA’s unique airport management competence, which recently was awarded the contract to manage and operate the Mumbai International Airport. He was previously employed as an accountant with South African Breweries.
Inge De Groot

Head of Travel Retail, Hugo Boss
As a professional textile engineer Inge looks back on a 17 years’ experience in textile and fashion-retailing, of which she has worked 7 years in the Travel Retail sector.
In her previous position as a Buying Manager for Gerzon Schiphol, she took care of the Fashion category, including the buying and merchandising for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. There, she gained unparalleled expertise in fashion and luxury brands.
Hugo Boss is currently represented in over 160 locations with its business partners at airports worldwide, airlines and cruise-ships. In these points-of-sale travellers are offered a wide range of high-end fashion products for men and women.
Inge joined Hugo Boss in May 2008 and is now based at the company’s head quarter in Metzingen, Germany. In her position as Head of Travel Retail at Hugo Boss she oversees the company’s global business in the channel and manages a team of 15 people dedicated to the Travel Retail sector.
Mike Hill

Vice President, Europe, Africa and the Middle East
Mike Hill joined The Patrón Spirits Company in February 2006 after a 20-year career at Joseph E. Seagram and Sons. His last position with Seagram, prior to joining Patrón, was 8 years as General Manager for Europe, Africa and Middle East Duty Free.
As Patrón’s Vice President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Hill is responsible for overseeing the expansion of the company’s business throughout the region via the appointment and management of local distributors in the domestic markets, and major travel retail operators. When Hill joined the company, Patrón was available only in two countries, which he has since grown to almost 50 markets, and over 20 key duty free outlets, across his region.
George Horan

Deputy Managing Director, Dubai Duty Free
George Horan came to Dubai from Ireland 25 years ago as part of an Aer Rianta consultancy team that set up Dubai Duty Free in 1983. At the end of the consultancy contract he was asked to join Dubai Duty Free’s management team, headed up by Colm McLoughlin, the current Managing Director. After several years in shop floor management George was appointed as General Manager of the operation and was later promoted to Deputy Managing Director in 2003. George has the overall responsibility for all aspects of the retail operation and reports to the Managing Director. Amongst the major projects undertaken, George has overseen the design, construction and opening of the Dubai Duty Free operation in Terminal 1 and more recently in Emirates Terminal 3 which opened on 14th October 2008
Maureen Johnson

Head of Insights, Portland
Maureen Johnson has specialised in the retail sector since the early 80s. From 1982, as a main board Director of Research International UK (part of WPP) she created and built the agency’s Global Retail Practise and in 1996, was appointed its Global Director, Retail. She pioneered research into the understanding of in-store activity on shopper behaviour.
In 1998 Maureen set up The Store, WPP’s Global Retail Practise which brings together professionals from across Group companies who specialise in the retail sector. Together they focus on retail issues, share insights and experiences and access leading edge thinking from around the world.
At The Store, Maureen provided a touchstone on shopper behaviour and insights for both retailers and their suppliers, most recently for C & A in Europe, Unilever and Ikea. Internationally, she is considered an authority on in-store media.
Maureen has published extensively on retail topics, from articles in retail and marketing journals to research white papers for which she has won numerous awards. She is a regular speaker on retail topics at UK and International industry conferences.
Craig Mckenna

Managing Director South East Asia and the Middle East, DFS
Craig is the Managing Director of DFS for South East Asia and the Middle East He is a New Zealander and has been with DFS since 1995. He started his DFS career in New Zealand as Vice President of Operations, before relocating to Singapore in 2003 to take up the post of Managing Director of the Okinawa development. Once the Galleria was completed and the Airport Operation acquired, Craig took over the role of Managing Director of the South East Asia business. In this role, Craig is responsible for the DFS portfolio at Changi Airport which includes some 46 individual locations across Liquor, Tobacco, Food, Luxury boutiques and Watches. It also encompasses an 85,000 sqft Galleria in Singapore, as well as a supply and management agreement in Indonesia. His territory now also includes Abu Dhabi Airport which commenced operations on July 1st, 2008.
Craig is married with 4 sons and is a keen follower of all sports, but most importantly the All Blacks. He enjoys a round of golf in the weekends and is looking forward to experiencing the courses around Abu Dhabi.
James Prescott

General Manager – Operations, ARI-Middle East
James has been working in retail for 21 years, 18 of which have been in Travel Retail - 16 on the retail side, 2 on the supplier side. James started his travel retail career in 1990 with Alders International, as Liquor Buyer following three years as an Oddbins Wine Store Manager, progressing through to Category Manager & Group Liquor Buyer post the Nuance takeover. He left to join World Duty Free (WDF/BAA) in early 1999, heading up the Liquor, Tobacco, Confectionery, Tax Free & Luxury Goods Buying & Merchandising departments.
In 2006 James moved to the other side of the fence, joining Whyte & Mackay as Sales Director for Global Duty Free. He then joined ARI-Middle East in March 2008 as General Manager – Operations replacing Dan Cappell who left to join ADAC.
Bob Pritchard

BSc, CSP, AISMM
Bob Pritchard is one of the most sought after business and marketing experts in the world. Winner of the covered “International Marketer of the Year” Award whose other recipients include Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and the late Dame Anita Roddick, Pritchard boasts 87 Fortune 500 clients including Microsoft, Intel and The Coca-Cola Company. He also has a legion of sports and entertainment clients including Formula One, Oakland Raiders, Evander Holyfield to name a few.
Pritchard is on the board of eight companies and works with SMEs to develop them into global businesses. In addition to his consulting, he makes some 70 plus presentations a year to leading companies across the globe. He has shared the platform with business greats such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson as well as lecturing on marketing and business at six of the world’s top universities.
The author of six best-selling books and superset CD series, Bob is a contributor to business magazines and journals across the world
John Sime

Industry veteran of 22 years - currently Vice President - Duty Free Services for Emirates Airline based in Dubai. Sime has previously held positions with Harding Bros, Sally Ferries and Aer Rianta International in various places such as Russia, Bulgaria, Florida, and the Caribbean. Sime has been involved in Airports, cruise lines, ferry businesses and airlines in wholesale, retail, purchasing and general management roles.
Rohit Talwar

He is a futurist, strategist, researcher and award winning professional speaker who founded and leads the futures research organisation Fast Future. He is considered one of the leading global authorities on the future of travel and tourism and related sectors. His work focuses on helping clients develop innovative responses to the trends and forces shaping the future. He has spoken and consulted in over 35 countries on five continents. Rohit has a particular interest in the emerging markets. Recent research studies include the Future of China, winning in China and India, the Future of Travel and Tourism in the Middle, the Future of Luxury Real Estate in the Middle East and global trends. His book Designing Your Future was published in August 2008. Rohit’s clients include global corporations, governments and innovative start-ups
Sherif Toulan

Sherif Toulan is Business Development Manager of IDF, Cairo who act as Duty Free retailers, distributors and ship chandlers in Egypt. He joined the company, founded by his father Kamal Toulan, in 2003 after graduating from the American University in Cairo. He started out as Business Development Coordinator until 2005 and is now responsible for managing all new projects within the company. He has acquired several airport retail concessions for IDF and is currently working on developing IDF's domestic subsidiary Global Brands. Sherif is an active member of the American and the German Chamber of Commerce in Cairo.
Barbara Wold

Business strategist
Barbara Wold is an internationally known speaker and authority to the retail and consumer industries. More than 40 years of firsthand retail experience in executive and sales management, marketing and repositioning have made Ms Wold as one of retail's most sought after speakers. Ms Wold is an authority on building business through customer driven strategy and maximizing human assets.
Her areas of expertise include customer care, marketing strategy, consumer buying patterns and trends, image, sales and service quality, public relations, CRM, redevelopment and tourism, which truly make Wold a master in the retail industry.
She is a representative for the International Council of Shopping Centers. In an average year Ms Wold presents over 100 speeches around the globe and has taught in twenty countries.


