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Dubai Duty Free boss Colm McLoughlin to address Virtual Travel Retail Expo

INTERNATIONAL. Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Colm McLoughlin has joined a powerful line-up of speakers at the Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo in October.

Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Colm McLoughlin: “A man held in immense esteem throughout our industry worldwide”

McLoughlin will take part in a one-to-one interview with The Moodie Davitt Report Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie. He will address this unique year in Dubai Duty Free’s glittering 37-year history, the retailer’s response to crisis and its insights as it helps to drive industry recovery.

“Colm McLoughlin is travel retail’s modern-day statesman, a man held in immense esteem throughout our industry worldwide,” Moodie said.

“We’re delighted he is joining the most powerful speakers’ line-up that we have ever put together. Dubai Duty Free has been tested as never before in this unique year and as an industry leader its lessons from crisis and thoughts on how to revive the travel retail channel will be of great interest to all Expo visitors.”

McLoughlin has played an integral part in Dubai Duty Free’s success and rise to prominence since humble beginnings in 1983 to become the world’s biggest single retailer airport operation.

A World Rover

Colm McLoughlin was born in Co. Galway, Ireland. An intended career in dentistry took a back seat when he went to London in the early 1960s and began working in retail.

In 1969 he returned to Ireland to join Shannon Duty Free. In 1983 McLoughlin joined an Aer Rianta team, contracted by the Dubai government, to set up Dubai Duty Free at Dubai International Airport. He was asked to stay on as General Manager of the fledging operation, which, in its first year of business, achieved sales of US$20 million. Last year it posted record annual sales of US$2.029 billion.

McLoughlin was named Managing Director in 1995. In July 2011, he was appointed Executive Vice Chairman and CEO in June 2016.

McLoughlin has been honoured with an overwhelming number of awards, both personal and professional, through those years. He celebrated 50 years in travel retail last year.

As reported, Dubai Duty Free is offering registered airport and retailer visitors to the Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo a chance to win US$1 million or a luxury car.

Many lucky winners have already claimed their tickets for the prize draws, which will run up to and during the Expo.

Dubai Duty Free is a Platinum Partner of the Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo.

Colm McLoughlin joins a powerful speaking line-up in the Knowledge Hub at the Virtual Travel Retail Expo, including China Duty Free Group President Charles Chen; Moët Hennessy CEO Philippe Schaus; Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Akbar Al Baker; Beam Suntory President of Brands Jessica Spence and many other stellar names. Click here for full line-up.

Delivering “a whole new ecosystem” – Platinum Partner AOE promises to take omnichannel platform to a new level at Virtual Travel Retail Expo

News

INTERNATIONAL. AOE has become a Platinum Partner for the pioneering Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo, an exciting addition to a stellar list of exhibitors across multiple categories.

Embracing the tagline “Passionate agile minds thinking digital”, AOE has become the leading developer of digital ecommerce platform solutions in the aviation and travel retail sphere. AOE’s OM³ digital marketplace has been the chosen platform for numerous successful airport and retailer forays into omnichannel retailing, including Heathrow Boutique, The Mall (Auckland Airport) and KrisShop.com, the Singapore Airlines, 3Sixty Duty Free and SATS joint venture.

The company serves as a global technology service provider and consultancy, supporting enterprises in their strategic decisions and digital transformation processes.

“AOE has made a name for building benchmark omnichannel ecommerce marketplaces for airports and airlines around the world,” said AOE Founder & CEO Kian Gould.

“At the Virtual Travel Retail Expo, we plan to expand that omnichannel platform to a new level. As such, AOE’s ground-breaking Virtual Expo showcase will not be limited to talking the future of digital travel retail. It will encompass – and unveil – a whole new ecosystem, featuring a range of fundamentally interlinked partners, brands, technologies and, of course, travelling consumers to transform the travel retail channel.”

The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said: “Ever since it burst on the aviation and travel retail scene, AOE has been a thought leader and positive disruptor. Kian’s long-held views on the urgent need for airlines, airports and retailers to digitalise their retail offerings in a coherent ecosystem have been born out by what has happened during the COVID-19 crisis, where ecommerce – where it exists meaningfully – has been one of the few shining lights.

“Having spoken to Kian and his colleagues about the evolving industry landscape, I know that what AOE will be showing at our Virtual Travel Retail Expo will live up to the promised billing of delivering and championing a whole new ecosystem. I am confident that both his presentation in the Expo Knowledge Hub and AOE’s Virtual Stand will go down as a redefining moment in our industry’s evolution.”

[Click on the YouTube icon to listen to Kian Gould talk to Martin Moodie last October in Cannes about the company’s digital and omnichannel journey]

[Last October, industry filmmaker and blogger Peter Marshall of TRUnblocked interviewed AOE’s newly hired Head of Airline Solutions Michael Raasch. The much-respected Raasch joined AOE from LSG Group, where he had served as Head of Consulting. Click on the YouTube icon to view.]

Note: The travel retail industry has leant tremendous support to the inaugural Virtual Travel Retail Expo with new exhibitors being named each week and several major announcements to be made in coming days. If you would like to exhibit please contact Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com. Airport executives and all travel retailers can register for free here.