Dubai Duty Free wins at 2023 MEADFA Awards
Dubai Duty Free officials headed by COO, Ramesh Cidambi, received the award for "Best Retailer" from MEADFA President Sherif Toulan
Dubai Duty Free (DDF) walked away with two awards at the second Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) Awards. The event was held on November 20 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana. Dubai Duty Free won the categories of “Best Retailer” and “Sustainability & CSR.”
Held to coincide with the 21st MEADFA Conference, this marked the first time the annual event has been hosted in West Africa; close to 300 delegates were in attendance. The awards ceremony was held during the MEADFA gala dinner.
Organized by the MEADFA board, the awards program recognizes 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" 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" title was awarded to the retailer's commitment to sustainability and promotion of environmental projects both within and outside the organization.
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.
