Here Comes the Sun

Ángeles Montesdeoca leads Dufry´s Southern European cluster. With nearly 30 years of experience in travel retail, she has seen many ups and downs in the business and in this interview she shares her views on the current situation and expected comeback of the business. Ángeles, who describes herself as a lucky person because she is able to just enjoy the little things in life, is a great example of career development within our company.

By Jorge Muñiz

Can you share with us your view on the current evolution of the business?

Sometimes I still find it difficult to believe that such a small and insignificant organism can challenge the whole human race as much as this Covid-19 virus has done. It´s been over a year since we started talking about a strange disease affecting a small part of China. A year later, the world is a very different place, and so it seems is our industry. It´s very hard to make any kind of accurate prediction about the evolution of the business, as the situation seems to be an ever-changing one.

Nevertheless, there are several reasons to be confident about the future in the short-term. Starting with the availability of the vaccines. This will be a game changer, as more and more people build their immunity. The first quarter of 2021 will still be challenging, with restrictions and lock-downs still affecting people’s mobility. Hopefully however, we will gradually be moving towards a more favorable scenario in the second quarter of the year – and we must be ready to benefit from this.

Do you feel positive about the comeback of our business?

Sometimes it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. As you see the news around us with restrictions, air connections canceled, new mutations of the virus… it´s sometimes difficult to believe this will all eventually come to an end and we will recover normality. However, it´s just a question of time.

Many things have changed in just a year. However, there is something that remains constant, and that is people´s appetite for travel. If you take last summer as an example, as soon as the pandemic gave us a break in the northern hemisphere, we began to move and resume travel. If all goes according to plan, by summer this year, we will hopefully be in a very different situation and we will start seeing higher volumes of passengers again.

We have seen a surge in online shopping in the last year as a consequence of the pandemic. Do you fear that this increase may impact our business as we re-open?

Online shopping has many upsides beyond the convenience. Many of our customers may well have bought their bottle of perfume of their favorite whisky somewhere else and had a great experience. Technology already plays an important role in the shopping experience.

That is why Dufry is accelerating the deployment of its digital strategy. Our partnership with Alibaba to strengthen our online capacities, or the adoption of the latest shopping technologies – like Amazon´s Just Walk Out to be implemented in selected Hudson stores in the US – demonstrate how Dufry sees the integration of the online world in our business.    

Shopping however – and airport shopping in particular – is a fundamental part of travelling. The experience customers enjoy in our stores cannot be replaced by any virtual marketplace. As soon as we have the chance to push up the shutters in our stores, customers will come back – and, hopefully, will spend more with us!

For the recovery, we have to focus on what we do best, and that is giving our customers the best possible shopping experience.  We need to keep working to maintain this asset and make it even more relevant for the next generation of customers.

What would be your advice for the next few months?

Keep pushing and work hard. A world of opportunity is there for those who fight for it. From a corporate perspective, we have taken all the necessary steps to safeguard the business and be ready for the comeback. While sometimes it’s not that easy to remain motivated and engaged, now is the time to do our best, to help each other and to work towards returning the company to where it was, in what we might now call “the good old days”!

If you had to choose a title or a headline for the current situation… what would it be?

I´m originally from the Canary Islands, a region that is well-known for its great weather conditions all year long – we have more than 4,800 hours of sun per year! For us the Canarians, the sun is what makes the difference, not just health-wise, but also in the way we face life.

So, if I had to give a title, I´d choose the words made famous by The Beatles in “Here Comes the Sun”, a song from 1969 that could pretty well describe the existing situation: “It´s been a long, cold, lonely winter… It seems like years since it´s been here… but here comes the sun”.

I think we have managed to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what will come next, or how to manage the situation. I have no doubt that we are at the beginning of the end of this situation. The first few rays of sun are here showing us more hopeful times ahead.

Your progression in Dufry is quite notable: from managing the business in the Canary Islands to General Manager of Spain in January 2019 and now you lead the Southern European cluster… Did you find it difficult taking over greater responsibility?

It´s been quite a swift but smooth move for me to be honest! However, I reckon this is thanks to the extremely professional teams we have in place in Spain, Italy, Malta and Portugal. The move to lead Spain, despite the fact that I sleep less than ever since it happened, was quite natural for me.

It was (only) 1992 when a “younger me” in an auditing role engaged with Aldeasa (a company that years later became World Duty Free Group). At that time, the manager responsible for duty-free took me into the retail operations function that I´ve not left ever since. Over these 29 years, I´ve got to know the people, the business and the airport landlords quite well. Dealing with the additional number of issues and aspects of the business, that come from managing one of Dufry´s largest operations, was of course a challenge.  I´m lucky however in having a team of extremely professional and supportive colleagues, with in depth knowledge and expertise in the business. That always makes your life easier! I feel proud of each and every member of my team and I´m very fortunate and thankful to be able to work with them.

The biggest challenge came in September with the addition of Portugal, Italy and Malta to my area of responsibility. If in normal circumstances it takes time to understand a new operation, imagine three at once and under the current trading conditions! The different evolution of the pandemic, different legal frameworks, different landlords and ways of managing the relationships.

But, again, Dufry´s main asset is our people. You find extremely well prepared professionals everywhere, and that makes the whole process easier! I´m very impressed with the support and the high level of involvement of the General Managers in these three additional operations and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support and commitment.

The March issue of Dufry World always touches on gender equality – the celebration of International Women´s Day is always a positive framework within which to celebrate women´s achievements and raise awareness about what still needs to be done…

I absolutely agree. I´m not a radical feminist, nor do I believe in a correlation between professional success and gender. Dufry is a great place to work, not only because two thirds of its staff are women, but because it truly promotes diversity across all levels of the organization. With the support of our Board of Directors, and the direct sponsorship of our CEO, Dufry promotes the internal dialogue to identify barriers to success. With initiatives such as Women@Dufry we are giving greater visibility to our women executives, showing that gender is not an obstacle for professional success at Dufry and to encourage everyone – men and women – to continue working to progress.

Everywhere around our organization, we have great examples of career progression. Extremely talented professionals who grow and evolve because of their real skills and leadership capabilities and who are the future of this company.

What do you enjoy the most when you have some free time?

Going to the opera is one of my passions. I love the show, the set-up… everything that comes with it. I also feel the happiest woman on earth when I can enjoy a walk on the beach. To be honest I´m one of those lucky people who just enjoys the little things in life: from a good glass of wine, to a meeting with friends, or a simple get together with loved ones. Life can be too short, so make the most of every day!