logo
Intagulf Travel Retail Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Global Beverage Distribution - Middle East Business News and Information

Intagulf Travel Retail Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Global Beverage Distribution - Middle East Business News and Information

Mid East Info12-06-2025
Intagulf Travel Retail , a leading distributor of beverages across the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent, proudly marks its 20th anniversary this year. This expansive reach has contributed to annual sales exceeding $40 million, highlighting its sustained growth and commercial success across international markets. This milestone reflects two decades of innovation, expansion, and commitment to delivering world-class beverage solutions to travel retail markets across the region.
In addition to its annual sales achievement, Intagulf Travel Retail proudly celebrates a key highlight – achieving a 99.998% pick accuracy rate in 2023, setting a new benchmark for operational excellence within the industry. The company proudly adds to its list of accomplishments by operating as a carbon-neutral business since 2022, powered entirely by self-generated electricity, and partnering with environmentally responsible suppliers, resulting in all products being carbon neutral at delivery point.
With a continually expanding footprint in the Middle East, Intagulf collaborates with an esteemed portfolio of global brands, including Champagne Bollinger, Carlsberg, Masi, Cono Sur, Balthasar Ress, and Yering Station. The company sources more than 2,000 fine wines, boutique spirits, and premium beers from over 50 countries worldwide and to ensure product quality and provenance, all beverages are imported in refrigerated containers and stored in the region's only purpose built, temperature and humidity-controlled wine cellar.
Mark Rogers, Managing Director & Founder of Intagulf Travel Retail commented, '20 years has gone by in a flash! It feels like just yesterday we were excitedly waiting and watching our first ever container, imported directly from Australia, reverse up to our empty warehouse. The container held wines like Yering Station, Mount Langi Ghiran & Parker Coonawarra bound for DDF. I am pleased and proud to say they are still selling strong today.
Looking back over the past 20 years, a lot has happened. We have forged a number of very long-standing relationships, as well as more recent partnerships including, Remoissenet, Vicchiomaggio, Balthasar Ress, Fishbone, Ironstone, Cono Sur and Mooiplaas. We have gotten through the Financial Crisis of 2008/2009 and Covid in 2020, coming through it together and stronger.
It is a true testament to the dedication and passion of all involved. Our commitment to unrivalled service, choosing fantastic partners, with a dedication to quality and environmental sustainability has been the cornerstone of our success, and we have been lucky enough to grow steadily since 2005. Here's to the next 20 years!'
'I first met Mark at Vinexpo, Bordeaux, in 2005 when we tasted our Yering Station and Mount Langi Ghiran wines together. Over the last 20 years we have enjoyed business together and a great friendship. I admire Mark's integrity, business sense and ability to adapt to changing market conditions. I wish Mark and the wonderful team at ITR a very Happy 20th Birthday,' said Gordon Gebbie, Commercial Director at Rathbone Wine Group.
Established in 2002 in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone, Intagulf Travel Retail has become a trusted leader in the travel retail and duty-free industry. As it celebrates 20 years of success, the company is focused on highlighting its rich heritage, global scale, and longstanding commitment to sustainability, reinforcing its position as a valued partner to leading brands and clients worldwide.
About Intagulf Travel Retail (ITR):
Intagulf Travel Retail is a prominent distributor of premium wines, spirits, and beers across the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent. Established in 2002 within Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone, the company operates as a sister brand to International Diplomatic Supplies (IDS), which was founded in London in 1997. Intagulf Travel Retail specialises in supplying a curated selection of beverages to travel retail and duty-free markets, emphasising quality, service, and sustainability.
The company collaborates with renowned global brands such as Champagne Bollinger, Carlsberg, Masi, Cono Sur, Balthasar Ress, and Yering Station, offering a portfolio of over 2,000 fine wines, boutique spirits, and premium beers sourced from more than 50 countries.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Egypt's tourism sector expected to generate approximately US$100 billion in revenue
Egypt's tourism sector expected to generate approximately US$100 billion in revenue

Egypt Independent

time14 hours ago

  • Egypt Independent

Egypt's tourism sector expected to generate approximately US$100 billion in revenue

Credit rating agency Fitch Solutions anticipates Egypt to generate approximately US$97 billion in tourism revenues by 2029, the privately-owned al-Mal newspaper reported on Monday. A recent report issued by the agency during the third quarter of this year, including its forecasts for the future of Egyptian tourism over the next five years, added that estimates indicate that the sector will generate revenues of US$17.5 billion by the end of this year, rising to $18.6 billion in 2026. Fitch explained that Egyptian tourism will achieve strong growth of 8.1 percent year-on-year, reaching $17.6 billion in 2025, compared to $16.2 billion last year, in line with the increase in tourist numbers. It pointed out that the tourism sector is expected to generate approximately $19.6 billion in 2027, surpassing the $20 billion mark in 2028, and reaching $20.9 billion in 2029. The report said that international tourism revenues in Egypt were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed at the time, leading to a decline to $4.9 billion in 2020, compared to $14.3 billion in 2019. Fitch explained that, over the coming years, improved consumer spending in Europe and the Middle East and North Africa will contribute to increased visitor revenues. According to the report, many tourists visiting Egypt are relatively wealthy travelers with high purchasing power, particularly from the UK, Germany, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Egypt received approximately 8.7 million tourists during the first half of this year, a 22 percent increase compared to the same period last year, it noted. Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, stated that there has been a 22-23 percent increase in the volume of tourism revenues during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.

‘They don't want the rabble anymore:' Why Europe is rising up against mass tourism
‘They don't want the rabble anymore:' Why Europe is rising up against mass tourism

Egypt Independent

timea day ago

  • Egypt Independent

‘They don't want the rabble anymore:' Why Europe is rising up against mass tourism

As protestors have taken to the streets across Spain, disrupted a billionaire's wedding in Venice, and even caused a shutdown of the Louvre in the shape of a staff mutiny about overcrowding, Noel Josephides has been watching with one phrase on his mind: I told you so. 'I could have told you that would happen 10 years ago,' he says. 'And I said so. I said, 'This is going to get out of control.'' Josephides is the longstanding chairman of Sunvil, a UK-based tour operator that has been sending comfortably-off Brits on vacation since 1970. He's also a former chairman of ABTA and AITO, both UK travel industry bodies, which makes him one of the big beasts of European tourism. And he says he saw Europe's current overtourism meltdown coming. 'I said there'll be enormous problems going forward,' he recalls of a speech he delivered to the ABTA annual convention, held in Dubrovnik, in 2013. He delivered that warning as the sharing economy — spearheaded in travel by Airbnb — was mushrooming across Europe. His concern, however, was not just short-term rentals. What he saw coming was a perfect storm: rapidly expanding budget airlines working in tandem with proliferating short-term rentals to create vast new vacation capacity, driving down prices and ushering in a new era of large-scale budget travel. Of course, as a tour operator, Josephides works in direct competition with short-term rentals and the independent travel-planning that budget airlines encourage. Yet today, he seems like a Cassandra figure — he foresaw the chaos, but no one acted. Now his worst fears have come to pass. 'The local populations are quite right,' he says about the spiraling protests. 'It's out of control. I'm on the side of the protestors, even though it affects my business.' The Covid-19 pandemic was the only time in years that Barcelona's Las Ramblas was tourist-free. Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images 'A salmon going against the flow' The situation in Europe this summer is a far cry from the empty streets and clear waters of the summer of 2020. During the pandemic, many destinations vowed to reinvent tourism for the better. But once travel restrictions were lifted, things quickly reverted to the old ways — and in many cases got worse, thanks to what came to be known as 'revenge travel.' For some locals, the memory of lockdown has taken on a halcyon glow. 'I remember walking in the streets very close to Las Ramblas and hearing birds singing and church bells,' says Maite Domingo Alegre, who lives in Barcelona. 'I'd never realized the bells tolled. But I never get to hear them anymore. Tourism has brought so much noise it's unbelievable.' An English teacher and associate professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Domingo Alegre lives in the city's historic center near the cathedral and works near Las Ramblas. She says her city has changed beyond recognition. 'We've always had tourism, and mass tourism, but over the last 10 to 15 years this has changed dramatically,' she says. 'It's not seasonal anymore, it's 365 days a year. And the visitors are much more than the number of inhabitants.' Crowded streets are one thing; the knock-on effects, she says, are worse. 'Most of the shops — even food shops, clothes shops, restaurants, everything in the center — is basically addressed to tourists,' she says. 'Prices have gone up. Airbnb basically evicted many locals. Most of my friends have fled the neighborhood because they can't afford to live there anymore.' The pandemic, she adds, intensified the problem, attracting remote workers from across Europe. 'They don't really mingle with the locals. They're not interested in Catalan or even Spanish culture. They think it's cheaper, and they have nice food and cheap drinks, so most bars and restaurants are also thought of for them.' Venice musician Ornello's latest video shows him as an astronaut, walking through the busy streets which have become alien to him. Courtesy Ornello In Venice, it's the same story. The local pop musician Ornello's latest video shows him dressed as an astronaut, wading through the summer crowds. In his real-life identity, Alessio Centenaro, he feels equally out of place in his hometown. 'I'm a cyclist and on Sundays I take my bike from Piazzale Roma (Venice's road terminus). I'm going out and I'm going against all the tourists arriving on the island and I feel like I'm a salmon going against the flow. Sometimes when you're surrounded by tourists, with hundreds all around you, you feel like you're the foreigner.' Venice has always been a city of tourists, he adds, but it also once had a sizable resident population. 'There are 48,000 people officially, but nobody says what's the percentage of old people. I'd say it's perhaps 70% over 70. If they will live another 15 years, what will happen then?' The number of residents in Venice has plummeted as visitor numbers to the city continue to rise. MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/AFP via Getty Images From 'secret' to swamped For the past five decades, Josephides has watched destinations go from charming to overcrowded. The trajectory, he says, is nearly always the same. First a boutique tour operator like Sunvil identifies a little-visited destination that seems perfect for its clients — people in search of a vacation where they won't be surrounded by other vacationers. It'll add that destination to its books, usually chartering a weekly flight to get clients there initially. And so the first few seasons will be a halcyon period of relatively few visitors. They enjoy the peace and quiet; the residents enjoy the money they inject into the local economy. But then word will spread. A budget airline — because it's low-cost carriers, not legacy ones, who invest in lesser-known places — will start operating to the destination. The following year, its rivals follow suit, eager not to miss out. What if Jet2 knows something we don't? Suddenly, there's a surfeit of planes going to the destination, and to fill them airlines slash fares, meaning that the budget market becomes the 'volume market,' as Josephides puts it. Accommodation strains to keep pace with the growing number of visitors, prompting locals to invest in short-term rentals. Soon, that 'secret' destination is swamped — not just by the early, more affluent pioneers, but by that volume market, who fly in on the budget airlines, stay in an Airbnb and generally spend less locally. So the first wave moves on to a new place, and the cycle begins again. Josephides earmarks the Greek island of Samos as one of the next destinations to go through this cycle. This year there is one direct weekly flight from the UK, he says. 'Next year TUI (a German travel company) have Thursday and Sunday. Jet2 have put on four flights: two Manchester, one Birmingham and one Stansted. So wait to see Ryanair and easyJet pile in.' The mass market players, he says, 'move in like a vacuum cleaner. The nature of the island will change but local governments do not understand what will happen until it is too late.' Even established hot spots can be victims of their own popularity. Airports on the Greek islands of Corfu and Crete, Josephides notes, are inundated with flights. 'The volume market won't go to destinations that aren't known, so you get this bottleneck of cheap flights fueling the likes of Airbnb. The local population are quite right — it's out of control.' An Airbnb spokesperson said in a statement: 'Airbnb offers a different way to travel that better spreads guests and benefits to more communities. The fact is that overtourism is getting worse in cities where Airbnb is heavily restricted: in Amsterdam or Barcelona, the introduction of stringent restrictions on short term rentals have coincided with a steep increase in guest nights driven by hotels, and a surge in accommodation prices for travelers. Cities that want to have a significant impact on overtourism should embrace tourism that supports families and communities.' They added that 59% of 'guest nights' sold in the EU on Airbnb in 2024 are in destinations outside cities, while their research published in June shows that the majority of tourists still choose hotels. VRBO, another major short-term rental provider, did not respond to a request for comment. Palma's tourist board is taking steps to center the industry around residents, not visitors.A blitz on overtourism Pedro Homar knows this pressure well. As tourism director for Visit Palma, he's caught between visitors behaving badly in the Spanish city, and residents demanding action. 'We need to ensure that tourism is a sustainable industry, not just from an environmental point of view but also from a social and economic point of view,' he says. 'Our economy depends on tourism, so we either make sure we're physically sustainable or we will not have a future.' Since the pandemic, Palma has stopped promoting itself outright. Instead, it runs 'image campaigns' to shape perceptions — even running ads to call out antisocial behavior in certain resorts. In 2022, the city capped cruise ship arrivals at three a day, even though the port can handle six (Barcelona has followed suit, announcing in July that it will close two of its seven cruise terminals from 2026). It banned short-term rental apartments and Airbnbs in city-center residential buildings and has set a cap of 12,000 hotel beds: for a new hotel to open, another must close. Palma has also built up a 50-million-euro ($58 million) fund to buy and remove outdated hotels from circulation — typically cheaper properties that tend to attract budget tourists. 'It's a way of taking out of the market all these obsolete and old hotels that are no longer competitive and not the kind of product that we want for the destination,' Homar says. 'We don't need you' Palma's approach raises a question: Who has the 'right' to travel? Some destinations have long used high costs to deter mass tourism. Bhutan charges a $100-a-day 'sustainable development fund' fee. A gorilla-trekking permit in Rwanda costs $1,500 per person. Even Venice's 10-euro day-tripper fee has drawn criticism from locals for selling the city to the wealthy. Homar argues that destinations should have the right to choose their visitors, likening it to deciding whom to invite to dinner. 'I really do believe that as mature destinations, we have the right to choose the tourists that we want, and don't want,' he says. 'We want tourists that respect our personality, our way of living, our traditions. 'If you are thinking of coming over without a respectful point of view, we say, respectfully, we don't need you.' Josephides is blunter. 'They don't want the rabble anymore,' he says. 'It sounds awful to say so, and everyone's entitled to a holiday, but the numbers just keep growing. The whole thing is out of control. I can understand the democratization but it's up to the destination if they want clients without any money,' he adds. 'I'd like to drive a Ferrari, but I can't afford it.' For now, he says, most European destinations seem focused on capping numbers rather than pricing out budget travelers entirely. In Rome, visiting the Trevi Fountain has become an ordeal. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images Winning back the locals Restoring the goodwill of residents is just as important as tackling the crowds. 'A city where residents are not satisfied is a city that doesn't work,' says Ruben Santopietro, CEO of Visit Italy, a marketing company for various destinations across the country. 'It loses its identity completely. Residents feel excluded and neighborhoods become touristic.' Born in Naples, which saw protests over lack of housing and growing short-term rental numbers in March, Santopietro has watched his hometown surge in popularity — and housing prices — over the past decade. He warns that if growth continues unchecked, 'in five years, 50% of the città d'arte (Italian cities of culture) will become inaccessible.' Rome, Florence and Naples, he says, are already 'suffocated by tourism' almost to the point of no return. Visitors, he adds, actually want locals around. 'Venice belongs to the Venetians. If locals aren't there, they won't go. Putting residents at the center of tourism models is the only way to preserve our cities from becoming open-air museums.' Homar agrees, echoing the same phrase — 'putting residents at the center of the tourist strategy' — when talking about Palma's new five-year plan, adopted in 2023. Some hotels the city buys will be replaced with green spaces or converted to housing. In November, Palma will launch free cultural activities for locals — organ recitals, children's days in the old atelier of artist Joan Miró, theater concerts organized by Spanish national radio stations, guided architectural walks around the city — to 'uplift the sense of belonging and the pride of being a citizen.' 'All these initiatives will be in spaces that residents for some reason believe are just for tourists,' he says. 'We're seeing that the sense of belonging that residents used to have about being in Palma, they were slowly losing that and we need to change that dynamic.' The scourge of social media Redistributing visitors can also help. The problem in Italy, Santopietro says, isn't that the country can't handle the numbers — it's that everyone goes to the same places. This summer, his agency launched a campaign, 'The 99% of Italy,' encouraging travelers to visit lesser-known destinations from Genoa to Tropea (some of which were their clients, but not all). 'We used social media platforms as they have created these imbalances,' he says, adding that they expect tangible results in the long term, as regional marketing campaigns take longer to take effect. Santopietro says that even in the busiest destinations, steps can be taken to disperse visitors. He suggests incentives — for example, discounted tickets to Rome's Colosseum for those who've already visited the ancient coastal town of Ostia Antica. In Naples, residents protested about the housing crisis in March, citing short-term rentals as one of the takes time In the short term, protests are likely to spread, says Estrella Diaz Sanchez, associate professor of marketing at Spain's University of Castilla-La Mancha. 'Some locals are frustrated about the number of tourists they receive, but I think the main factor is skyrocketing rents, driven by short-term holiday lets, pushing locals out of the housing markets,' she says. 'The solution isn't to reject tourism; it's to make it more inclusive and respectful.' Even Josephides, the tourism industry doomsayer, thinks recovery is possible. He points to Estoril, on the Lisbon coast, which in the 1970s was a mass-market destination. Authorities decided to push it upmarket, and succeeded. 'You can recover, but it takes time,' he says. 'It's much easier for a destination to control its growth rather than repair it afterwards.' Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, and where to stay.

Egypt's treasury expected to generate revenues of approximately US$100 billion
Egypt's treasury expected to generate revenues of approximately US$100 billion

Egypt Independent

timea day ago

  • Egypt Independent

Egypt's treasury expected to generate revenues of approximately US$100 billion

Credit rating agency Fitch Solutions anticipates Egypt to generate approximately US$97 billion in tourism revenues by 2029, the privately-owned al-Mal newspaper reported on Monday. A recent report issued by the agency during the third quarter of this year, including its forecasts for the future of Egyptian tourism over the next five years, added that estimates indicate that the sector will generate revenues of US$17.5 billion by the end of this year, rising to $18.6 billion in 2026. Fitch explained that Egyptian tourism will achieve strong growth of 8.1 percent year-on-year, reaching $17.6 billion in 2025, compared to $16.2 billion last year, in line with the increase in tourist numbers. It pointed out that the tourism sector is expected to generate approximately $19.6 billion in 2027, surpassing the $20 billion mark in 2028, and reaching $20.9 billion in 2029. The report said that international tourism revenues in Egypt were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed at the time, leading to a decline to $4.9 billion in 2020, compared to $14.3 billion in 2019. Fitch explained that, over the coming years, improved consumer spending in Europe and the Middle East and North Africa will contribute to increased visitor revenues. According to the report, many tourists visiting Egypt are relatively wealthy travelers with high purchasing power, particularly from the UK, Germany, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Egypt received approximately 8.7 million tourists during the first half of this year, a 22 percent increase compared to the same period last year, it noted. Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, stated that there has been a 22-23 percent increase in the volume of tourism revenues during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store