MEADFA speakers announced

The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association has announced that the 2015 MEADFA conference will take place on November 23 and 24 at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre at the Dead Sea in Jordan.

Organised by the Tax Free World Assoicaiton (TFWA) on behalf of MEADFA, the event is the duty free and travel retail industry’s main conference in this region, attended last year by a record 600 delegates.

The opening keynote address will be given by mayor of Amman Akel Biltaji, who served previously as Jordan’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities and also enjoyed a distinguished 28-year career with Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Tim Sebastian, founder of the BBC’s Doha Debates, chair of The Arab Debates on Deutsche Welle TV, will address the conference on the geopolitical climate in the Middle East.

Discussing the evolving role of tourism and luxury retail in Africa will be two of Africa’s most successful young entrepreneurs, Mark Essien, founder of Hotels.ng and SoleRebels creator Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, in a session entitled:  ‘Young Africa: Driving the continent’s future’.

The conference programme will include interactive workshops on inflight retail and, secondly, on the technology which is revolutionising the way travel retailers communicate with their customers.

The MEADFA Conference will be moderated by Dermot Davitt, president of The Moodie Report and TFWA’s conference, research and corporate affairs director, John Rimmer.

Registration will open in September and further details can be found at: www.tfwa.com.