FRANCE. The contest for the Presidency of Tax Free World Association has heated up, with three candidates including incumbent Alain Maingreaud now known to be standing.
The Moodie Davitt Report understands reliably from multiple sources that Mondelēz World Travel Retail, European Export & Switzerland Managing Director Jaya Singh, an incumbent Management Committee member, has joined the race. He will contest the election alongside Maingreaud and Melvin Broekaart, Managing Partner at global airport consultancy Aircommerce.
Singh declined to comment when approached by The Moodie Davitt Report.
The election will take place at the next TFWA Management Committee meeting, due to be held virtually on 11 December. The Presidential term is one year.
It is possible, though perhaps unlikely, that further candidates could emerge from within the Management Committee. If so, they would have to advise their candidacy no later than 10 December. Nominations from external candidates closed on 20 November.
Highly regarded Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail Managing Director and TFWA Management Committee and Board member Aude Bourdier was earlier considered a potential candidate. The Moodie Davitt Report has been unable to confirm her intentions. As reported, all other widely touted candidates have counted themselves out.
And then there were three – TFWA Presidential candidates in profile
Jaya Singh: The Mondelēz World Travel Retail, European Export & Switzerland Managing Director enjoys widespread respect within supplier and retail circles, a standing that makes him a powerful candidate for the lead role in a brand association. As previously noted, he also has strong credentials for a role that demands sector insight, political nous and diplomatic skills. As a long-time confectionery and travel retail specialist, a former APTRA President (2012-2016), Duty Free World Council board member (2014-2016), and incumbent TFWA Management Committee member, he ticks all those boxes and more. He also has excellent knowledge of the key Asia region having been Mondelēz Region Director Middle East & Asia Pacific for over seven years from 2008. An outstanding orator and a people-centric, engaging character, Singh brings serious leadership qualities to the contest.
Alain Maingreaud: The continuity candidate with well-regarded operational skills and ability to deliver a product. The Frenchman’s stellar pitch to the Management Committee clinched him the President’s role in 2018, delivering TFWA a safe pair of hands at a time when it and the travel retail industry was flying high. He was re-elected unanimously a year later. Concerns about TFWA’s response to this year’s crisis and how the association should function within a much-changed industry ecosystem beyond the pandemic have prompted competition this time around. While not considered a strategist, Maingreaud’s 25 years’ involvement with TFWA and his acute knowledge of its core exhibition activities and its complex politics makes him a sound and credible candidate once again.
Melvin Broekaart: If the Management Committee want a (positive) disruptor as their next President, then the Dutchman is their man. His LinkedIn profile is instructive – “I like realizing innovation and bringing to life much needed change. From scratch, and through overhauling existing organizations. I believe digital innovation & travel are making the world a better place. I am proud to be able to bring both areas together, in the widest possible sense.” Things could get interesting if he is elected.
Broekaart understands the evolving digital world better than most and has an acute appreciation of the role of travel retail within the airport ecosystem. His brand credentials, too, are strong, having held senior travel retail roles with Philips, B&S, and Heineken. Will bring plenty of energy to the contest and a refreshingly different perspective.
Three very different candidates then, and a contest now out in the open as it should be. With lobbying having begun in earnest, members of the Management Committee will find themselves on the end of some intensive courting over the next week.
