Registration is now open for this year’s MEADFA Conference, which will take place in Dubai. Organised in partnership with TFWA and hosted by Dubai Duty Free, the event will be held from 9th to 11th November at InterContinental Dubai Festival City. Delegates who take advantage of the early bird registration will be able to benefit from a 10% discount rate, available from 13th August to 2nd September, via this link. Pre-registration after this date will be possible at the regular entry rates until 20th October.

The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) convened its 24th Annual General Meeting in Dubai on March 25, 2025, reaffirming its dedication to advancing the duty-free and travel retail industry across the region. With strong participation from MEADFA’s members, the AGM provided a platform to review key achievements, discuss industry challenges, and outline strategic priorities for the future.

Celebrating its third consecutive year, the MEADFA Awards continue to recognize and honor innovative, dynamic, and world-class travel retail specialists in the Middle East & Africa Region. The 2024 edition promises to highlight exceptional achievements and transformative efforts within the industry.

With a strong number of delegates already pre-registered for the 2023 MEADFA Conference in Accra, Ghana, further details have been revealed on this year’s speakers and key topics. Managed by TFWA, the event will take place from the 19th to the 21st of November at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City and will mark the first time this annual event has been hosted in West Africa.

The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) FZE is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Board and Officers following the Annual General Meeting held in Dubai on April 4, 2023. The new leading group will be responsible for guiding the association's strategic direction and furthering its mission to represent and promote the growth and development of the travel retail industry. The newly elected Board of Directors includes members of the travel retail industry who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the association.

MEADFA is pleased to announce the independent panel of judges that will evaluate and score entries for the MEADFA Awards. Five highly accomplished professionals will serve on the jury, each with a strong background in retail and travel, and all have made significant contributions to the progress of our industry as a whole.

Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association is pleased to announce that the MEADFA Conference will be held in the kingdom of Bahrain on 27th to 29th November this year. The event, managed by TFWA and hosted by Bahrain Duty Free, will take place at The Art Hotel & Resort located in Amwaj Islands in Bahrain. Further details will follow in due course.

Delegates attending the MEADFA Conference, taking place in Dubai from 21st to 23rd November 2021, will have the opportunity to meet with some of the leading companies in the Middle East and Africa duty free and travel retail industry. The event marks the return of one of travel retail’s most popular gathering, held in a location that is set to drive the recovery in international travel. Held at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel near The Irish Village, the MEADFA Conference will be managed by TFWA and hosted by Dubai Duty Free.

The MEADFA Q2 recovery monitor highlights three key barriers to purchase affecting the revival of duty free sales. According to the MEADFA Q2 recovery monitor, published for the Middle East and Africa Duty Free Association by Swiss research agency m1nd-set, airlines’ one bag policy is among three barriers to purchase that have significantly increased in importance in 2021 versus previous years.

Today MEADFA held its first regulatory intelligence sharing session dedicated for its members and which will be held monthly. The meeting reflects the organisation’s determination to keep developing its cross-category advocacy capacities and to build relationships with key stakeholders and decision makers in the Middle East and Africa Region. Therefore, Rita Chidiac, the advocacy working group secretary general of MEADFA, recommends intensifying the flow of regulatory intelligence between MEADFA members (Brands, landlords, retailers) to anticipate regulatory threats with a clear teamwork from the Duty free industry.

At its meeting earlier this month, the Board of the Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association decided to cancel the 2020 MEADFA Conference. The event, set to take place on 23-24 November in Dubai, will not be held this year given the severe economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the global travel retail industry, as well as ongoing uncertainty surrounding travel restrictions.

H.E Dr Ahmed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications for Oman, will be the guest of honour at the 2019 MEADFA Conference, which will take place at the Kempinski Hotel, Muscat from 24th to 26th November.

The Middle East and Africa Duty Free Association held the elections of the board for the new term starting from April 2019 until March 2021 during the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, April 02, 2019 in Dubai at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel.

A key event in one of duty free and travel retail’s most dynamic regions, the next MEADFA Conference will take place in Beirut from 19th to 20th November 2018.

As a result of the current political uncertainty in the region, the Board of MEADFA has decided that the 2017 MEADFA Conference will not go ahead in Beirut as planned. The event will be rescheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2018, at a date and venue to be confirmed shortly. Delegate fees will be reimbursed in full to all registered delegates, unless they instruct MEADFA to retain their payment against participation at the conference in early 2018.

As day one of the MEADFA Conference 2016, managed by TFWA, kicked off, it was clear that there are reasons for confidence in the future of the Middle East and African duty free and travel retail sector. Welcoming delegates to this year’s event, MEADFA president Sean Staunton said that it had been a tough 12 months for the region, with sales in the Middle East falling 2.6%. However, the travel and tourism industry continues to grow, and investment is speeding up across the region.

The magnificent Dead Sea, Jordan, was the backdrop for this year’s MEADFA Conference, managed by TFWA on behalf of The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association. Taking place at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre on 23-24 November, the 342 delegates attending the event enjoyed an action-packed two days with lively presentations, workshops and panel discussions covering all aspects of the region. In a time of particular regional turbulence, instability and uncertainties ranging from terrorism to the weak Russian ruble to falling oil prices, the overall aim of the two days – said MEADFA President Sean Staunton -was “to give delegates a real opportunity to discuss these challenges”.

The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association is pleased to announce that registration for the 2015 MEADFA Conference (23-24 November), managed by TFWA, is now open at www.tfwa.com. The annual conference for the duty free & travel retail industry in the Middle East and Africa is to be staged at the world-class King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre beside the Dead Sea in Jordan against the stunning backdrop of the lowest place on Earth. At more than 400 metres below sea level, the location is the lowest land mass in the world making this a unique venue for an unmissable industry conference. Following a welcome by Sean Staunton, President MEADFA, and a keynote address by His Excellency Akel Biltaji, Mayor of Amman, formerly Jordan’s Minister of Tourism & Antiquities with a distinguished career at Royal Jordanian Airlines, there will be a brief video review of the highlights of the duty free & travel retail business over the past year in the Middle East and Africa.

The Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) and TFWA are delighted to reveal details of the programme of this year’s MEADFA Conference, which will be staged at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Dubai on 24th and 25th November. Registration for the event is now open.

Over 500 delegates from across the globe attended the 12th Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association Conference held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Doha, Qatar on 25th and 26th November. Over two mornings of presentations, panel discussions and workshops, the 510 delegates heard of the relentless growth of the duty free and travel retail business in the region, through ongoing investment in airport infrastructure, impressive retail development and the ambitious plans of airlines such as Qatar Airways, Emirates, FlyDubai and Etihad.

Preparations are well under way for the 12th annual conference of the Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association, the first since the Association’s formal embrace of Africa. The Conference, which is managed by TFWA on behalf of MEADFA, will take place at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha, Qatar on 25th and 26th November 2013. Keynote speaker at the event will be Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, one of the Middle East’s most dynamic and fast-growing airlines. Qatar Airways is noted globally for its commitment to excellence and in May this year its cabin crew were voted the best

The Middle East Duty Free Association (MEDFA) is pleased to announce a strategic alliance with Channels Exhibitions to jointly present the Middle East Exclusive 2012 which will be held alongside the MEDFA Conference. This collaboration paves the way to play a leading role in the development of the duty free and travel retail industry in this fast growing region. MEDFA 2012 Conference will take place in Dubai on Nov 26-27 at a new venue, the Jumeirah Creek Hotel. The Middle East Exclusive (MEE) Exhibition held at the Dubai

The Middle East Duty Free Association (MEDFA) held its Annual General Meeting on Monday, April 11, 2011 in Dubai at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The meeting led by MEDFA President and CEO of Chalhoub Group, Mr. Anthony Chalhoub, focused on MEDFA financials, and the election of the new