Landmark day for Qatar Duty Free as it proudly celebrates 25th anniversary

QATAR. Today is a red (or purple) letter day for Qatar Duty Free as it celebrates its 25^th anniversary.

For it was on 1 May 2000 that the company opened for business at the old Doha International Airport in the Qatari capital.

The inauguration came three years after the relaunch of parent Qatar Airways under the leadership of the airline’s then-Group Chief Executive His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, which heralded an extraordinary transformation of the aviation sector in the Gulf state.

Unusually, Qatar Airways chose to run its airport duty-free and food & beverage operations in-house, airline, airport and retail brought together under a single, unique industry ‘Trinity’. The rest, as they say, is history.

Over the ensuing quarter century Qatar Duty Free (QDF) has risen from a fledgling start-up to become one of the industry’s most acclaimed travel retailers, a flagbearer for constant, often daring innovation; multiple sector firsts; and a relentless focus on quality rarely if ever matched worldwide.

On 30 April 2014, the company’s commercial playground switched to the spectacular new Hamad International Airport (HIA), since consistently ranked as one of the world’s premier gateways.

The opening augured a sustained upgrading of the QDF offer, a dynamic that gathered rapid momentum after the promotion of former Senior Retail Operations Manager Thabet Musleh to Acting Head of Qatar Duty Free in January 2018.

2025 also marks a personal ten-year milestone for Musleh who, after learning the travel retail trade at World Duty Free in the UK, had joined QDF in June 2015.

Strongly supported by airport leadership (initially Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker and from late 2023 his successor Eng. Badr Mohammed Al Meer) Musleh, promoted to Qatar Airways Chief Retail and Hospitality Officer last July, has driven a startling enhancement of the QDF retail, food & beverage and hospitality offer across the vast HIA estate.

That dynamic was memorably encapsulated by the late 2022 opening of the first phase in HIA’s expansion. The multi-million dollar investment including the unveiling of Orchard, a 6,000sq m indoor tropical garden, ringed by a rollcall of world-renowned luxury and premium brands and an eclectic food & beverage offer, both including numerous sector firsts.

QDF’s commercial vision has been recognised repeatedly over recent years with the business picking up two successive Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Offers of The Year in 2023 and 2024 (plus numerous individual category accolades); the Skytrax ‘World’s Best Airport Shopping’ for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025; and Frontier ‘Airport Retailer of the Year recognition in 2023 and 2024.

This March, HIA unveiled its highly anticipated Concourses D and E, increasing capacity to over 65 million passengers annually. The concourses integrate seamlessly into the existing terminal, introducing cutting-edge technology and enhanced facilities – including an eclectic shopping and dining offer – to meet growing passenger demand.

The terminal now spans 842,000 square meters – a +14% increase – while the addition of 17 new aircraft contact gates increases the total to 62, an increase of almost +40%.

In the May edition of The Moodie Davitt Report Magazine (digital and print) that will be published to coincide with TFWA Asia Pacific in Singapore (11-15 May), Musleh tells The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie how the job is far from finished. In fact it is only beginning and the years ahead will be even more exciting, he promises. Here are some excerpts.

Martin Moodie: Thabet, Qatar Duty Free’s 25^th anniversary represents a notable landmark in the company’s development and with you also poised to reach your 10th anniversary with the company, this year represents a double celebration. You have played a key role in the extraordinary rise of Qatar Duty Free during that decade. Tell me from both a personal and corporate point of view what these milestones mean.

Thabet Musleh: From a business point of view, it’s a credit to the team, to the company, the group and country. Everyone’s very, very proud of their achievements and how far and fast we’ve come.

To put it into perspective, when we were all 25 years old in life we were still very young. We still haven’t achieved at that point. We’re still learning. And then as we get older, we start understanding what we need to do and how to grow as individuals. I think business is like that as well.

So, we now have our identity and our goals – we know what we need to do. The future is very, very bright for us. But we can’t forget where we’ve come from. We’ve still got eight or nine staff who joined on 1 May 2000 when Qatar Duty Free was formed. I always talk to them all – they’re the ones that most give me the energy and the motivation because they’re very passionate. They joined when there were only 50 staff. Now there are over 5,000.

They also remember when there were just a couple of shops. Now we have hundreds and that just gives us the motivation to do more.

From my own personal view, ten years – it seems like yesterday I joined and it’s been phenomenal. Just working with this company, this airline and the whole group and being able to do what we’ve done over the last ten years has been, as you indicated, remarkable.

This video, produced by Moodie Davitt STUDIO and premiered at The Trinity Forum 2024, captures the powers (and results) of imagination that have driven Qatar Duty Free’s remarkable rise to world-class retailer status

And when we get feedback from industry peers, from partners, from customers, telling us how amazing it is, then you know, wow, we’ve achieved something special.

I’ve got goosebumps all over my arms just thinking about it and talking about it to you. When the goosebumps start going away and the hairs on the back of my neck stop standing up, then I might need to think about what’s next. But at the moment, I’m still as passionate, motivated and engaged as ever. And watch this space for the next 25 years.

I suspect I might know the answer already but tell me what the hardest challenge has been down the years.

I’m going to give you two – the blockade [by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt from 5 June 2017 to 5 January 2020] and COVID.

They were two separate challenges, but both had the same solution. Because it was about being flexible, agile, adaptable and collaborative that got us through both with huge success.

We faced supply chain, staffing and lots of other issues – the same ones across both circumstances.

But it was that tenacity, flexibility and adaptability within the country, the group and the team that really got us through both.

Another key to your success – and you and I have spoken about it on many occasions – is that here in Doha you have your own unique ‘Trinity’. You have Qatar Duty Free, Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways under one umbrella – no silos, all working together.

We both know the various alternative models around the industry and their flaws. Sum up for me how that unique Qatari model has contributed to what you’ve achieved down these 25 years.

It’s been about all having the same goal. And that’s not just lip service. With all due respect, many people outside our business say to me, “We’re all in this for the customer.”

But then they start fighting. Who owns the customer? Is it the airport? Is it the retailer? Is it the brand? Is it the airline?

I spent 11 years working across three of London’s airports so I’m not new to airports. I have been in them over 21 years. But here we live and breathe that it is one customer we all own, and we all work together to deliver what’s best for that customer.

Collaboration is a word you have used time and again with me and with your business partners. It’s not about talking the talk but walking the walk. You’ve seen it as integral to your success. Again, tell me about your partnership philosophy and tell me of any collaborations that really jump out over the years. I won’t confine you to one, but I won’t allow you too many.

It’s based on building long term, mutually beneficial relationships. We look for partners that share our passion for excellence, who are willing to co-create unique experiences and to think outside the box.

We challenge them. We don’t want what other airports are offering. We want something new and we want something amazing.

It’s difficult to put my finger on one, but look at, say, the Dior Spa or what we did with Chanel last year for the Winter Tale campaign, involving the whole airport takeover.

Look what we do with Louis Vuitton [two standalone boutiques and the Louis Vuitton Lounge by Yannick Alléno]. Let’s just put this into perspective. Louis Vuitton, who 15 years ago wouldn’t even dream of opening in an airport, opened their first F&B lounge in an airport globally before they even did it in domestic.

Now the same lounge, the same restaurant, the same concept that we opened in 2022 is in Milan. It’s in Bangkok. They’re opening one in Paris. All in downtown cities on the success of travel retail.

I don’t think people understand the scale of some of the stuff that we’re doing. I mean, the Dior Spa is incredible in terms of both the experience and the feedback. And don’t just take my word for it. Go on Google and look at the reviews and see what genuine customers are saying about some of the experiences at Hamad International Airport.

That’s what excites us, and that’s what great collaboration does. And there’s more coming. There’s a huge, huge, huge exclusive with L’Oréal coming in June, and we’re continuing to push the boundaries. Because look, if it doesn’t excite me, then you know what? Why am I here?

To conclude, QDF is 25 years old, a critical landmark. I know with you, it’s not a case of job well done. What excites you most about the years ahead?

In the words of the songs, ‘We’ve only just begun’ [The Carpenters] or ‘Don’t believe me. Just watch’  [Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars].  So just watch this space.

The next six months are going to be incredible, and 2026 is already full steam ahead. We have got some amazing things and some amazing exclusives coming. We’re constantly innovating, constantly evolving and constantly looking at what our customers want and how we can deliver for them.

We launched [pioneering data-sharing platform] 36Q at The Trinity Forum in Vietnam last year. So our experiences in future are also going to be led from the back – data, personalisation, AI.

We’ve got some great big news coming soon. So watch this space and watch The Moodie Davitt Report for some exclusives in the near future. That’s the message I give to your readers.

[And watch out for a much extended version of this interview, out next week]

Footnote: Last year Moodie Davitt STUDIO released Airport Wonders of the World, a film series dedicated as the name suggests to the greatest gateways on the planet.

The inaugural production, a three-part series of short films, was dedicated to Hamad International Airport in Doha and Qatar Duty Free’s retail, dining, hospitality and leisure attractions.

Click on the YouTube icons to view.