Maingreaud – the right man for the role

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

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Tax Free World Association’s (TFWA) appointment of Alain Maingreaud as Managing Director appears a sound and logical move. Maingreaud, who replaces former CEO Olivier Charriaud, has been Exhibitions & Business Development Director of TFWA since 2007, and before that Commercial Director.

In other words he is expert at the association’s core business – running successful trade exhibitions. Despite well-founded concerns among many about the costs of Cannes as a location, few would quibble at TFWA’s expertise in organising and running its World Exhibition there – or the consistently excellent Asia Pacific show in Singapore. Maingreaud has been directly responsible for those events in recent times so his new role will surely strengthen the supplier association.

He will report to TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen (below), and the TFWA Board.

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The future of the Presidency is still under discussion at Management Committee and Board level. TFWA is reliably understood to be considering a rule change to allow the option of having a remunerated President who is not involved in the industry in a full-time capacity.

That initiative, likely to be progressed at the next Management Committee meeting, has been prompted by the failure of the association to attract Presidential candidates to replace the respected Juul-Mortensen in recent years.

However, one has now emerged. In May, Estée Lauder Travel Retailing Worldwide President Olivier Bottrie (below) declared his intention to stand for the post of TFWA President.

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That’s an interesting development. Bottrie’s outstanding executive reputation, and tremendous track record in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (a key focus for TFWA) – he and DFS CEO Ed Brennan have been the driving forces behind the successful Hand in Hand for Haiti project – make him a strong candidate. It’s healthy for the association too that an industry major has put forward its top travel retail executive for the post.

It will be interesting to watch which route TFWA’s Board and Management Committee  members take in the future. We’ll bring you details as they emerge.

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