Christopher James Tantoco is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of IDFS Morocco, the country’s first and leading duty free operator.

Patriarch of the Philippine luxury retail industry, Ambassador Bienvenido R. Tantoco and his wife, the late Mme Gliceria R Tantoco, along with their local partners, believed in the great potential of Morocco, in particular with regard to tourism. It was thus that in 1989, they decided to set-up the first International Duty Free Shops (IDFS) in Casablanca Airport.

Today IDFS operates 22 airside stores in 10 of the country’s largest airports, along with military and diplomatic shops. Since Christopher joined the company in 2012, IDFS sales have grown by a dramatic 20%.

Christopher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Boston University School of Management, USA.

Jack MacGowan is the newly appointed CEO of Al Waha Duty Free Company which was registered in November 2024 and formally launched by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in March 2025, with the objective of growing and transforming travel retail in the Kingdom and supporting Projext 2030

Before stepping into this role, Jack advised boards in the U.S. (PCRP), chaired tech firm Digi Systems in Ireland, and served as Director (and briefly, Interim CEO) of Sodaflo in the UK.

He spent 14 years at the Dublin Airport Authority, first leading commercial operations for the airport group and then serving as CEO of ARI, a powerhouse in global travel retail, for seven years.  At ARI, Jack led expansion into Asia, New Zealand, and the Middle East, doubling revenues to $1.2 billion and tripling both EBITDA and shareholder returns. By the time he exited in 2018, the company had grown into a 4,000-person strong enterprise spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region.

Jack’s early career included key marketing roles at Shell, strategic consulting at McKinsey in London, and international management posts with Diageo across the UK, USA, Greece, and Russia. He holds engineering degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Cambridge University, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Now based in Riyadh where Jack lives with his wife, Petrina Smyth, and their two children. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director at Tailwind Inc.

Suzie Wokabi is the creator of Kenya’s first make-up and beauty brand, SuzieBeauty, and a trailblazer in creating a bespoke product for the African woman, by an African woman. Soon after graduating from university in the US, Suzie was trained by MAC Cosmetics and completed an intensive Media Make-up certificate course at the Award Studio Make-up School in Los Angeles. She worked in New York within the fashion and beauty industries from 2001 until 2007, when she returned to her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya. She began creating her make-up/ beauty brand in early 2009 and officially launched it in December 2011.

SuzieBeauty products are designed to be affordable, high quality, and tailor-made for the unique needs of women living in the African climate. At the end of 2015, the brand was acquired by The Flame Tree Group, with a view to increasing its reach and presence within Africa and beyond.

To date, Suzie’s work has been featured in countless magazines and TV shows. SuzieBeauty sponsors most major fashion events including Fashion & Beauty Expo (FAB), Nairobi Fashion Market, Samantha Bridal Expo, Miss World Kenya, Kenya Fashion Week and Hub of Africa Fashion Week in Addis Ababa. Suzie was featured as one of Kenya’s leading business people in 2013 in Msafiri Magazine (Kenya Airways Inflight) to tie in with Kenya’s Golden Jubilee of Independence, and awarded the Msafiri Business Award for Health & Beauty.

SuzieBeauty products are readily accessible online and in retail outlets across Kenya and in Uganda, Ethiopia and Cote D’Ivoire. Additionally, the company has established a seasonal school in Kenya for aspiring local make-up-artists.

Vrinda Singh is a self-confessed digital evangelist and travel geek. She is part of Google’s Travel team in the Middle East and North Africa, where she helps the region’s biggest travel companies win new customers and prepare for a digital future. She is especially interested in understanding consumer behaviour in a region that is home to perhaps the world’s youngest and most digitally connected population. She regularly writes for Think With Google, Google’s go-to resource for insights, trends and research in digital marketing.

Prior to joining Google, Vrinda spent more than three years at strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, and went on to work with several Indian start-ups, ranging from online food discovery to public art.

Vrinda holds an MBA from INSEAD, and was also a recipient of the INSEAD Diversity Scholarship.

Joseph Francis Bihag – aka Jobi – is a man who believes in paying his dues, particularly to his work, which he does for 23 hours a day, most days. He calls it the Jobi Method of Advertising, and he has been refining it for the past 20 years.

The Jobi Method has proved to be highly effective and has helped Jobi win awards across every advertising discipline from Digital, Design, Direct, Shopper Marketing to Integrated Advertising.

He has worked with a number of multinational clients like Land Rover, Ford, HP, Citibank, Kit-Kat, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, 3M, Harvey Nichols, La Senza, Virgin Atlantic, Gulf News, Warid Telecom and American Garden.

Jobi has managed various agencies throughout his career, among them Y&R, Intermarkets, Labstore and most recently Almost Impossible – a digital innovations company.

Jobi’s work has been honoured at Andy, Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, London International Advertising Awards, New York Festivals, Adfest, Epica, Effie, Dubai Lynx, Cresta, Webby, Graphis and Wolda.

In his free time, Jobi serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Department of Visual Communication at American University of Dubai and occasionally lectures at the top three Visual Communication schools in the United Arab Emirates – American University of Sharjah, Zayed University and the American University of Dubai.

A Norwegian citizen and graduate of the French ESSEC Business School, Dag Rasmussen joined Lagardère Travel Retail in 1988 as International Business and Financial Controller. In 1991 he was promoted to Finance and Organization Director at Press Shop in Brussels, then joined AMP, the Belgian press distribution company of the Group, before becoming its General Manager in 1996.

In 1999 he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Lagardère Travel Retail. In this capacity he supervised the companies of the Group located in northern and central Europe, and more recently, in the rest of Europe and in North America.

In 2011, he became the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère Travel Retail.

Amr Abdel-Ghaffar is a senior official of UNWTO with over 30 years of experience in shaping tourism policies and strategies and managing development plans and projects, particularly in the Middle East, where he has served as the Organization’s Director since 1992.

During the period 1994-2005, in which UNWTO experienced rapid growth in its membership and activities, he was responsible for coordinating the preparation and implementation of six successive general programmes of work of the Organization and for introducing a new impact evaluation system. In 2006, he was assigned the responsibility of shaping the Organization’s new Risk Assessment and Crisis Management programme, developing its governance structure, systems and processes and mobilizing external financial resources for its implementation.
In 2008, he was appointed President of UNWTO’s Themis Foundation for Tourism Education and Training and entrusted with restructuring the Organization’s programme in this area. In 2012, he was designated by the Secretary-General as UNWTO’s Focal point for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and, in January 2014, he was appointed by the Secretary-General as his Senior Advisor on Tourism and Peace.

Mr Abdel-Ghaffar holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science and Economics and a Master’s degree in International Relations, from the American University in Cairo.

Elena Nikolova is an international speaker, author and the editor of MuslimTravelGirl.com, the largest Western Muslim-friendly travel site for Muslim millennials. It helps Muslim travellers explore the world without breaking the bank.

She has over a decade of marketing and branding experience in the corporate world and her work has been featured by leading media outlets such as BBC, Islam Channel, Business Traveller Middle East, Thomson Reuters and others. She is a regular contributor to various international media outlets and magazines on Halal travel, including Huffington Post, My Salaam, TripZilla Magazine Asia, ZilzarLife Malaysia, Ilma Magazine, Sisters Magazine and more. Elena is the first woman to become a Chartered Islamic Marketer (CIMA) in the UK and holds an MSc in Islamic finance.

Coming from a diverse cultural background and travelling across the world Elena is passionate about working with companies that view Muslim travellers for who they are; recognising their needs and providing services that complement their religion. As an influencer, her goal is to enhance future opportunities for Muslim travellers to travel and explore the world and be confident in their Muslim identity.

Richard has spent the past decade as a business journalist and editor covering the Gulf Arab states. Based mainly in Dubai, he’s written widely for the Financial Times, The Economist and Reuters.

His first book was published in May 2010 – Sink or Swim: How to stay afloat in tough economic times.

As a broadcaster, he presents Tonight with Richard Dean, a business show on Dubai Eye radio. Previously he worked for Bloomberg News in London, as anchor presenter of their flagship radio show.

Richard draws on all this experience in his role as a public speaker. He’s a regular presenter at Leaders in Dubai, one of the most prestigious events on the Gulf’s business calendar. He’s also a sought-after moderator, speaker and master of ceremonies for major companies working in the region. HSBC, Invesco, BT, Natixis and SAP are among those who turn to Richard when hosting major events.