Following the announcement of the strategic training partnership between the Duty Free World Council (DFWC) and Airports Council International (ACI)…
Following the announcement of the strategic training partnership between the Duty Free World Council (DFWC) and Airports Council International (ACI) World, the DFWC Academy’s flagship course – Certificate in Duty Free and Travel Retail – is currently being updated and developed.
Registrations will open before the end of the year, and the first student cohorts will begin taking the course in Q1 2022.
The course is designed for those wishing to develop their careers in the industry: retail sales professionals, individuals from brand and industry support organisations who are either new to the industry or wish to further deepen their knowledge, as well as commercial executives from the aviation, maritime and other duty free and travel retail industry channels.
Creation of the course is guided by an Academic Advisory Group comprising representatives of leading industry retailers: ARI, Dubai Duty Free and Lagardère, and multi-category brand expertise is provided by representatives from Brown-Forman, Duty Free Global, Imperial Brands, Lacoste, L’Oréal and Mondelez. Broader industry perspectives are provided by the DFWC and TFWA.
The Academy courses are designed to fill the knowledge gaps that are now greater than ever in the industry, following the loss of so many experienced industry colleagues since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
Academic Advisory Group member comments
Aude Bourdier, Chair of the DFWC Academic Advisory Group, and VP Managing Director Global Travel Retail, Brown-Forman: “The Group provides advice on the course structure and content. The course is designed to complement existing retailer and brands’ training programmes. Therefore, the knowledge of the AAG members on current standard industry practices is crucial. Secondly, the pooled knowledge of retailers and brands from all categories ensures the content is accurate relevant and up-to-date.
“Now more than ever, with passenger numbers still way below ‘normal’ levels, it is critical that our industry optimises the experience to entice shoppers into our stores and to explore the wonderful products on offer. Unfortunately, a considerable amount of industry knowledge has been lost over the last 18 months and must be quickly replaced as recovery gains momentum.
“With competition from other channels getting more challenging by the day, providing a world-class shopping experience is one way for our industry to differentiate itself and continue to prosper into the future. Knowledgeable and motivated staff are crucial to providing a best-in-class experience for the shopper.”
Tobias Baude, Head of Corporate & Legal Affairs, Global Duty Free & Export, Imperial Brands: “We are using our wide-ranging experience across all category sectors of the travel retail business to help create and guide a course that is relevant, meaningful and educational. This is more important than ever as we adapt our industry to meet the demands and expectations of travellers in the post-COVID world. The course will be vital in equipping retail staff with the knowledge and skills they need to ensure travellers feel comfortable, safe and enjoy the very best shopping experience.
“Our retail sector is very different to the domestic industry and, as such, it is incumbent upon us to provide education and training that is bespoke to our business. Importantly, courses must address all distribution channels – airports, of course, but also downtown, border shops, inflight and at-sea. The travel industry globally has been ravaged by COVID and many experienced professionals have, unfortunately, lost their positions – none more so than in global travel retail. As recovery has started and we now, thankfully, begin to open up again, recruiting knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff is vital and this is where high-quality training becomes indispensable.”
Carlos Granados, Associate Director Sales WTR, Mondelez International: “As a group, we are leveraging our many years of collective industry experience and expertise to provide relevant advice on the course structure and content, ensuring that the learning material is up-to-date with the latest industry challenges and trends.
“High-quality training programmes are more important than ever. For example, a study from m1nd-set earlier this year revealed that interaction with sales staff, which had been slowly decreasing since 2017, has become significantly more frequent in 2021, with 75% of duty free shoppers saying that they interact with sales staff. We believe that investing in our people, providing them with the opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills to effectively engage travelling consumers and achieve excellence in sales will play a major role in driving recovery and growth for our industry.”
Barry Geoghegan, Founder, Duty Free Global: “The AAG has a great combination of industry specialists from different regions, different categories and different disciplines within global organisations. This balance of experience ensures that the quality and style of the certificate course reflects the knowledge required to work effectively in our unique channel. The more colleagues are trained in the specifics the better experience our pax will receive at the POS, thus ensuring the positive experience is shared among our customers’ social circle.
“The courses are key to engaging with travellers as we have a limited time to impart knowledge to the passengers and training ensures that the ambassadors on the ground can deliver the message in a helpful and professional manner based on a structured course.”
Further details on this and other DFWCA courses can be found at http://dfworldcouncil.com/academy/
Duty Free World Council Board meets at TFWA World Exhibition & Conference
The Duty Free World Council (DFWC) Board met yesterday during TFWA World Exhibition & Conference.
