Qatar Duty Free (QDF) has won the DFNI-Frontier ‘EMEA Airport Retail Operation of the Year’ award for its "exceptional" retail offering and customer service.

The award was presented at a ceremony and charity ball that took place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London recently, and was received by Qatar Duty Free vice-president (Operations) Thabet Musleh.

Winners were selected by a panel of high-profile experts in retail from across the duty free industry.

The ‘EMEA Airport Retail Operation of the Year’ award recognises QDF’s outstanding commercial performance and excellent customer service to more than 30mn passengers annually. The travel retailer was also commended for its commitment to its employees through the QDF Learning Academy, which offers all employees training through its career development programme.

Qatar Duty Free senior vice-president Bruce Bowman said, “At Qatar Duty Free, we strive to provide new, exciting and memorable experiences for our customers, and we are delighted that this has been acknowledged by the duty free industry. Being named ‘EMEA Airport Retail Operation of the Year’ is a significant achievement, and is recognition of our efforts to enhance our customers’ shopping experience. We will continue to innovate to ensure that our passengers enjoy a five-star travel shopping journey, both in flight and at Hamad International Airport.”

QDF collaborates with Qatar Airways, Hamad International Airport and leading global brands to deliver innovative retail concepts, such as the Qatar Airways Travel Boutique and the world-exclusive Dior La Parfums Podium.

In addition, QDF recently opened two souqs in celebration of Qatar National Day, selling traditional Arabian products made in Qatar. Earlier this month, Al Jazeera Perfumes, the well-known Qatari fragrance brand, opened its first airport boutique at HIA.

QDF boasts of more than 90 affordable and luxury stores as well as more than 30 restaurants and cafés covering an area of 40,000 square metres at HIA and providing travellers with a world-class shopping experience under one roof.

Luxury brands available at the five-star airport include Tiffany & Co, Gucci, Bulgari, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Moncler, Rolex and Harrods.

QDF was named 'Airport Retailer of the Year' at the 2018 DFNI Global Awards. In April, the leading airport retailer was recognised at the PAX International Readership Awards, when Qatar Airways won the ‘Best In-Flight Duty Free Programme’ award for the Middle East for the third time in four years and was acknowledged as an industry leader for its outstanding in-flight duty free service, which is operated by Qatar Duty Free.

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