Dimensi Eksklusif and Starbucks among big winners at Malaysia Airports Concessionaire Awards

MALAYSIA. Leading independent travel retailer Dimensi Eksklusif and coffee brand Starbucks captured the big prizes of the night, Best Retailer for KLIA/klia2 and for other airports respectively, at the annual Malaysia Airports Concessionaire Awards on Friday. Dimensi won three awards in all: Best Retailer (KLIA), Best Core Product (P&C) at KLIA and Best Core Product (P&C) at Penang International Airport with brand partner Jo Malone.

The awards (which took a Cuban style theme for the evening) were a memorable culmination to the tenth Malaysia Airports Concessionaires Conference, which also took place on Friday at the EQ Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It gathered together the airport company’s key business partners across a range of commercial categories. The Moodie Davitt Report President Dermot Davitt was keynote speaker at the conference.

Dimensi Eksklusif Managing Director Zainul Azman (right) accepts the Best Retailer Award for KLIA/klia2 (one of three for his company) from Malaysia Airports Senior General Manager Commercial Services Division Mohammad Nazli Abdul Aziz. Guests were encouraged to dress ‘Havana style’ for the night.

Other winners on the night included The Zon Duty Free/DFZ for KLIA/klia2 and Eraman for other airports (Customer Service); Retail One and Eraman (Best Supporting Partner); Most Innovative Partner (Gintell); HH Olympia and Colours & Fragrances (Best Newcomer Outlet)’ Best Enterprise (Gold City Jewellery Centre and Koperasi Keluarga Sumiran Kuching); Plaza Premium Group (Best Product Category Services); Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks (Best Product Category F&B); Heinemann Duty Free Malaysia and Pemborong Bumihijau Duty Free (Best Product Category Leisure); Bvlgari and Supri Management (Best Product Category Fashion); Dimensi Eksklusif/Jo Malone (Best Product Category Core Products); Retail One (Best Concept Design) and McDonald’s (Honourable Award).

A selection of the award winners on a memorable night hosted by Malaysia Airports

Malaysia Airports Senior General Manager Commercial Services Division Mohammad Nazli Abdul Aziz said: “We celebrate the concessionaires that have put in an immense effort to deliver the best retail and service to passengers at all airports in Malaysia. The airport is the first point of contact as passengers arrive and depart in Malaysia. As of November 2019, airports in Malaysia welcomed over 95 million passengers and you are at the forefront of this. We celebrate and recognise those outstanding partners who have gone above and beyond what is excepted from them. It is also a night to inspire creativity and excellence.

“Airports today have been reinvented from being mere transportation hubs to destinations and lifestyle experiences for passengers, through retail and food and offering areas to relax, rest and recharge. The Commercial Reset we have begun is an exciting journey for us and we see it coming to fruition.

The EQ Hotel Kuala Lumpur became Havana for awards night, with music, dance and stage sets evoking a Cuban feel

Jaclyn Victor, the first winner of the Malaysian Idol TV talent show in 2004 and a big star in the country, was the highlight of a superb awards entertainment lineup

“We see enhanced ambiences at our airports and through our partners many recent notable firsts, such as the first Costa Coffee in Malaysia at Langkawi, the first Dior Prestige pop-up store in southeast Asia and the first Din Tai Fung restaurant at an airport in KLIA. These can bring forth a memorable airport experience for our passengers and ensure we are on our way to creating lifestyle destinations of our airports.

“Our theme at this event is Reset. Refresh. Rethink. We want you as our partners to refresh your marketing and sales strategy and rethink the the way you do business so that collectively we can meet travellers’ changing needs and remain relevant and competitive with our peers.

“2020 is the opportunity to do that as we bring in changes through the Commercial Reset strategy and introduce new stores and concepts. We also welcome Visit Malaysia Year 2020, when we can show the best experiences to the millions of passengers who will travel through our airports next year. I hope you feel inspired to do more and bring your ‘A game’ to the business. We will continue to strive for excellence together to the betterment of Malaysia’s airports.”

*More images of the awards evening plus coverage of the Concessionaires Conference will follow.

A dash of Cuban colour: Malaysia Airports General Manager of Commercial Business Hani Ezra Hussin and Senior General Manager Commercial Services Mohammad Nazli Abdul Aziz hosted the awards night
Malaysia Airports General Manager of Commercial Business Hani Ezra Hussin (second left) with Ashvin Valiram (left) and Linda Lim (Valiram Group) alongside Dermot Davitt (The Moodie Davitt Report)
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