AUSTRALIA. Experienced travel retail executive Ken Tse has been named General Manager, Dufry Australia, effective 10 July, the retailer confirmed today.
He will report to Dufry CEO, Asia, Middle East and Australia Andrea Belardini. Tse also joins Dufry’s Divisional Executive Team.
Tse is set to take over from the much-respected Philippe Boyer, who is leaving for family reasons.
Belardini paid warm tribute to Boyer, noting: “Philippe has been with Nuance and Dufry for 16 years. He contributed significantly to our business in Australia as the leader and driver in many key projects.
“Philippe led and implemented the reorganisation of Nuance Australia, which enabled the current establishment of the operation in Melbourne starting in 2016; the integration of Australia into the newly created Dufry Division 3; and the opening of the ‘New Generation Store’ in Melbourne. Finally, he played a key role in the implementation of the Business Operating Model in Australia.
Tse brings years’ of travel retail experience to the role. From 1993 to 1999 he was General Manager DFS Singapore, where he led the retail operations of the Tanglin and Millenia Galleria stores and co-ordinated the planning and set-up of the Bali Galleria store.
From August 2001 to January 2015 he was Managing Director Nuance-Watson (Singapore), leading the retailer’s acclaimed Changi Airport perfumes & cosmetics business as well as a portfolio of other stores.
From August 2016 to April 2017 he worked on a short-term project as Chief Commercial Officer for GMS, setting up the Thai-Korean joint venture downtown duty free shop in Phuket trading as The Shilla Duty Free.
In August 2016 Dufry extended its duty free contract at Melbourne Airport, held by the company’s 2014 acquisition The Nuance Group, until 2022.
