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So it’s farewell to Doha International Airport, where I’ve just spent a fascinating hour reviewing the commercial facilities with Qatar Duty Free Senior Vice President Keith Hunter and his team.
While everyone here is necessarily focused on the daunting task of getting New Doha International Airport (NDIA) ready for its full operational start-up in 2013, there’s still an incredibly busy airport (operating at more than twice its capacity level) to run.
And how well at a commercial level that is happening. Everywhere there is evidence of ‘joined-up thinking’ between airport, retailer and, unusually, airline. That’s helped of course by the shared ownership but that factor is no guarantee of working together in the common interest.
Here, everyone seems to be on the same page. Mobile duty free carts patrol the gate areas; a high profile promotion area is given (free of charge) by the airport and retailer to a brand (currently Toblerone) to drive sales and consumer theatre. New concourse areas are claimed by retail to enable exciting and themed projects such as a store focused on products appealing to the Chinese consumer.
The much-criticised industry ‘Trinity’ really does work here, even extending to the airlines, as I say. There is so much to learn from Doha International Airport. Just imagine what they will do once they have space to work with at NDIA.