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10.12.2013
The best duty-free store in Europe in 2013

The best duty-free store in Europe in 2013

The Duty-Free Store at Keflavik Airport has been chosen the “Best Airport Tax Free Shopping Service Provider” by the magazine Business Destinations.

“The Business Destinations Travel Awards”, now in their fifth year, are respected in the international travel and tourism industry. Winners are chosen through an election by a large group of influential people in the field of business travel. The awards celebrate achievement, innovation and brilliance in a multiplicity of fields in travel and tourism.

The awards are categorised by continent and outstanding companies in various fields in each continent are presented with an award. As previously mentioned, the Duty-Free Store was chosen the best duty-free store in Europe. The best duty-free stores in other continents were Duty Free Americas, which operates duty-free stores in ten airports in the United States; Dubai Duty Free was chosen the best duty-free store in the Middle East; Global Blue was chosen the best duty-free service in South America; China Duty Free Group received the award in Asia; SYD Airport & Duty Free in Sydney was chosen the best duty-free store in Oceania; and IDFS in Morocco was chosen the best duty-free store in Africa.

Business Destinations comments that the awards act as the industry standard for those aspiring to greatness in travel and tourism. An announcement from Business Destinations on the occasion of this year’s awards presentation states the following: “Our award winners are hugely responsible for advancing the industry as a whole this past year”. The awards and winners are discussed in a special appendix to the issue of the magazine that was published on 28 November.

Ásta Dís Óladóttir, Managing Director of the Duty-Free Store, says: “We at the Duty-Free Store are overjoyed to win the award and immensely proud. Receiving this award is a great pleasure and means a lot to us. It is a confirmation of the results we have gained through the reorganisation of operations and the rebranding of the company in recent years. The slogan of the Duty-Free Store, ‘worth the experience’, most definitely lives up to its name. Our shops have been redesigned, new shops have been taken into use,

emphases in operations have been changed, and the range of products has been greatly expanded”.

The strategy of the company is to emphasise products that are not available in the domestic market, to promote and sell Icelandic products and Icelandic design, not least fashion wear, as well as to emphasise product development with Icelandic suppliers.

Among the criteria used were product range and prices, not least in clothing and accessories. “The product range in Dutyfree Fashion was considered good but the prices were found to be among the best in Europe”, says Ásta. The Duty-Free Store runs Dutyfree Fashion where a very good range of Icelandic design can be found, in addition to world famous brands, such as Burberry, Mulberry, and Hugo Boss. “Who knows, maybe more famous brands will be available in Dutyfree Fashion in the near future”.

“From 2010, turnover has increased by 44%, which is probably among the largest turnover increases of duty-free stores in Europe. This can in large part be traced to increased business from foreign passengers. People from abroad are purchasing more Icelandic products than before and the Duty-Free Store has greatly increased its business with Icelandic suppliers and designers. Service surveys show that customers are very pleased when they leave the Duty-Free Store thanks to the great service attitude of our employees to whom this award first and foremost belongs. Winning ‘The Business Destinations Travel Awards’ shows that our success garners attention outside of Iceland.”

About “The Business Destinations Travel Awards”: “The Business Destinations Travel Awards” have been presented annually during the past five years and are intended to promote those companies that offer the best available products and services in different areas of international travel and tourism. The uniqueness of these awards consists in award recipients not being chosen by a small selection committee but instead by a large and diverse group of specialists from the business community. These are business travel executives at Fortune 500 companies, as well as members of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and other key people in the field of business travel. The group evaluates the companies that are nominated according to specific stringent criteria.

The companies nominated by Business Destinations are chosen by a panel composed of executives from the magazine who together possess 90 years of media experience covering business travel and who make use of comprehensive information and data compiled by the staff of the selection committee.