Women of FDFA hold WiTR+ gathering during Toronto Convention

On Tuesday evening at this year’s FDFA Convention, a special gathering of the Women in Travel Retail+ (WiTR+) took place which was put together by Sherri Gidney of Wine Classics, Alex DeBellis of Beler Holdings, and Barbara Barrett and Alison Gardner of FDFA. Generously hosted in the Beler suite, the event attracted a full house, and held a special presentation for the nominees of the new “Trailblazing Woman of Influence” award, celebrating outstanding women in leadership.

The three nominees were Heather Howard, who founded 1,000 Islands Duty Free some 40 years ago; Alex DeBellis, VP Sales & Marketing at Beler Holdings, who has helped develop the distribution side of Canada’s land border duty free business; and Lois Pasternak, Editor/Publisher, Travel Markets Insider.

Each of the nominees was recognized at the reception with a personalized congratulatory certificate from Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming Stan Cho.

Refreshments were provided by the FDFA, Wine Classics, Beler, Beam Suntory and Bacardi and a charity raffle to benefit Child Find Ontario was held.