Ilia Lioutov is an air transport economist with expertise in airport economics, regulatory policy, and stakeholder engagement across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. His work focuses on the development of sustainable airport business models, with particular attention to the interface between regulation, commercial strategy, and long-term infrastructure planning.
In addition to his core work on aeronautical revenues and economic regulation, Ilia has developed specialised expertise in non-aeronautical revenues, including travel retail, duty-free, concession agreements, ground access, and digital transformation. He served as the first Secretary of ANARA (Airports’ Non-Aeronautical Revenues and Activities), where he established and led several thematic working groups addressing key areas of commercial activity and operational efficiency. These included initiatives on commercial concession structures, digitalisation of passenger services, and access infrastructure.
In his current role, Ilia advises on policy development, regulatory frameworks, and strategic communications for the airport industry, supporting both public and private stakeholders in navigating evolving market conditions and investment environments. His work contributes to regional and global efforts to advance airport competitiveness, economic sustainability, and policy alignment within the aviation sector.
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Harald Suenner is Sales Director Middle East Africa at Heinemann Middle East Africa and oversees and manages the travel retail and distribution business of the company across Africa. Heinemann is a retailer and distributor to the same degree and an expert in all sales channels of travel retail.
Harald brings extensive global experience in the travel retail business, with a special focus on emerging markets. Before becoming responsible for the business of Heinemann across 35 African countries, he served as Commercial Director for the business region Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Prior to joining Heinemann, Harald completed several international stations with the Carlsberg Group and served as Consulting Director at Kantar Retail with a focus on FMCG.
He studied marketing and international business at the University of Trier (Germany) and international business and marketing at the State University of New York.
Bernard Schlafstein is the CEO of Heinemann Middle East Africa, the regional headquarters of Gebr. Heinemann, a global leader in travel retail.
With nearly two decades at Gebr. Heinemann, he manages the retail and distribution business across the whole MEA region, including 100% entities as well as joint ventures like JR Heinemann, JAH Arabia International Duty Free and Big Five Duty Free. His responsibilities span over more than 40 countries. Previously, Bernard served as Director Sales Middle East Africa, including Turkey. Prior to that, he was responsible for the EECA region, where he played a pivotal role in establishing joint ventures and nurturing long-term distribution partnerships.
His deep regional expertise and strategic leadership continue to shape Heinemann’s growth in emerging markets. Bernard studied International Business Studies and Management at the Regent’s University London.
Frank Cortes is a seasoned expert in the airport industry with extensive experience in aviation and commercial management. He currently serves as the Director of Public and Commercial Venues Management at King Salman International Airport, where he leads the strategic development of commercial spaces and real estate assets within one of the most significant airport projects in the Middle East.
Frank has deep expertise in travel retail, particularly in the development and management of duty free and other commercial spaces in major international airports. His insights into culturally appropriate consumer behaviour, retail optimization, and brand partnerships have led to significant growth in airport retail revenues.
He serves as a key representative for King Salman International Airport at prestigious global industry events like TFWA in Cannes and Future Travel Experience, where he shares his strategic vision for the future of airport retail.
Before his current role, Frank held positions focused on asset commercialization and the expansion of retail spaces, where he successfully enhanced customer experiences and boosted profitability with brands, retailers, and airports. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management with a minor in diversity, inclusion, and interculturality, and he continues to sharpen his expertise in commercial strategy and aviation-related venues.
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John Rimmer has worked in the duty free and travel retail industry since 2000, when he joined trade journal Duty-Free News International as a reporter. Within three years he had been appointed editor of sister publication Travel Retailer International, before becoming editor of DFNI a year later.
In 2006 he relocated to Paris, where he joined retailer Aelia (part of the Lagardère group) as Deputy Director of Business Development, helping the company to develop its presence at airports beyond France. Four years later he returned to the UK to become Executive Director Business Development at leading trade publisher The Moodie Report. In October 2012 John returned to Paris to join Tax Free World Association as Conference, Research and Corporate Affairs Director, tasked with strengthening the Association’s services to its members across the world.
In October 2017 John was appointed Managing Director of TFWA, responsible for the day-to-day running of the Association and its two major exhibitions, TFWA World Exhibition & Conference and TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference. John left TFWA in late 2023 to establish his own consultancy, and currently works with a number of clients in the travel retail sector.
John has moderated several industry conferences around the world, including TFWA China’s Century Conference, the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference, the World Travel Market, the MEADFA Conference and the Trinity Forum.
John holds an MA in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge.
Raphael Curiger is a serial entrepreneur who specializes in luxury travel and conservation in Africa. Over the past decade, he has co-founded Pure Africa, the first premium experience provider in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and AMADI, an ultra-high-end safari operator dedicated to channelling funds towards conservation. Prior to his entrepreneurial journey, Raphael worked at McKinsey & Company.
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Lennard Niemann is the Managing Director at Gharage. With a strong background in corporate development, Lennard spearheads the company’s venture initiatives and plays a crucial role in shaping its long-term strategy and driving innovation. He is focused on enhancing the company’s digital capabilities in the travel and airport sectors and has been instrumental in forming strategic partnerships with major stakeholders such as Avolta, Just Eat, and Gebr. Heinemann.
Previously, Lennard had extensive experience in the automotive industry, providing consulting services for major companies such as BMW, Audi, and Daimler. He has received numerous prestigious international accolades for his strategic contributions.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Lennard studied brand design and strategy followed by management studies in digital communications in Switzerland and an executive course at Harvard. Lennard has lived in Hamburg and Beijing, but has also spent a lot of time in different regions across the world.
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Nomusa Khumalo currently holds the position of Chief Customer Officer for Africa and the Middle East at Tourvest. With a strong background in information technology and project management spanning fifteen years, she specializes in systems and business analysis. In the travel and tourism sector, she is dedicated to enhancing customer engagement in Africa and the Middle East. Her strategic focus is to drive growth in these markets by prioritizing a customer-centric approach and introducing innovative retail products, catering, and technical solutions to elevate the customer experience and bring value to airline partners.
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Ashish Chopra is the Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Duty Free Services. Ashish’s retail experience has covered numerous segments such as luxury, lifestyle and high end fashion.
With 26 years of experience serving the travel retail industry, Ashish believes growth in the market must embrace an entrepreneurial and customer-centric approach to ensure success. Under his tenure, Delhi Duty Free has received numerous accolades such as Airport Retailer of the Year, Sustainability Initiative 2020 award and DFNI’s Exceptional Achievement by an Airport Retailer in Asia Pacific 2021.
Florian Wimmer serves as Client Service Director at ISC-CX. Florian is an expert in Customer Experience (CX) measurement with 20 years of experience. He has spearheaded successful CX programs for leading brands such as McDonald’s, Avolta, Glovo, and many more across diverse industries.
Florian’s approach is rooted in a human-centric philosophy, ensuring that CX programs provide clear, positive guidelines for staff and long-term strategies for business excellence.
At ISC-CX, Florian focuses on implementing innovative solutions, always keeping the client’s perspective at the forefront to drive continual improvement and customer satisfaction.
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