Dubai Duty Free walked away with two awards at the 2nd Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) Awards held on 20th November at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana. The awards were presented in the “Best Retailer” and the “Sustainability & CSR” categories.
Held to coincide with the 21st MEADFA conference, which was held in Accra, Ghana, this marked the first time this annual event has been hosted in West Africa and saw close to 300 delegates attending. The awards ceremony was held during the MEADFA Gala dinner.
Organised by the MEADFA board, the awards programme, which is now part of the annual conference, recognises innovative, dynamic and world-class travel retail specialists in the Middle East and Africa region.
Dubai Duty Free, which was a joint winner with AVOLTA (formerly Dufry), was awarded the Best Retailer Award for demonstrating excellence across the business and continuous innovation in providing outstanding products and services that contribute to the development of the travel retail industry in the region. While the Sustainability and CSR Award was awarded to the airport retailer for its commitment to sustainability and promotion of environmental projects both within and outside the organisation.
Dr Bernard Creed, SVP – Finance receiving the MEADFA Awards for Sustainability & CSR Award from Sherif Toulan, MEADFA President and CEO International Duty Free along with Robert Marriott, Vice President MEADFA and CEO of Aer Rianta International Middle East.Commenting on the awards Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin said, “We are absolutely delighted to receive these two awards from MEADFA and they are a testament to our commitment to retail service while also championing sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Thanks to the MEADFA board for the nomination and to the judging panel. I attribute these awards to our team of staff for their continuous effort in making our business successful and, of course, to our Chairman, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.”
The Dubai Duty Free executive team, headed by Ramesh Cidambi, COO, attended the awards ceremony including Salah Tahlak, Joint COO, Sinead El Sibai, SVP – Marketing, Dr. Bernard Creed, SVP – Finance, Mona Al Ali, SVP – Human Resources, Sharon Beecham, SVP – Purchasing and Zayed Al Shebli, SVP – Loss Prevention & Corporate Security accepted the awards from MEADFA President Sherif Toulan in Ghana.
A special independent judging panel with a strong background in the travel retail industry adjudicated the awards. Prior to the jury’s evaluation and scoring, the MEADFA committee examined each award submission to ensure its completion.
