After being named as the successor to Olivier Bottrie, Israel Assa will oversee The Estée Lauder Companies’ (ELC) Global Travel Retail department.
Bottrie will leave his post as Global President, Travel Retail and Retail Development of the global beauty conglomerate in June, as previously reported, after years of dedicated service.
Assa will be based in New York and will join the company’s Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to Peter Jueptner, President, International (ELT).
His hiringis the first several important leadership changes in the the travel retail industry, with all new posts starting on May 1.
New Role for Javier Simon
Simon, who is currently President, Travel Retail Asia Pacific, will take over as President, Commercial, Travel Retail Worldwide, based in Switzerland, and will also join the ELT.
Regarding commercial responsibilities, Andrea Dorigo, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Global Retail and Head of Commercial, North America, will continue to report directly to Mark Loomis, President, North America.
Dorigo will also report to Jueptner directly for global retail duties.
Assa joins the firm with more than 21 years of experience, and will lead the company’s immensely important travel retail division, which represented for about 28% of ELC’s US$16.2 billion net sales in fiscal 2021.
He has worked for ELC in a range of roles at the regional, brand, and commercial levels, with a focus on bringing brands and retailers together to create a “locally relevant customer experience” while increasing distribution to meet consumer demand.
In July 2006, he came to Miami as Vice President and General Manager, Travel Retail Americas, after joining ELC in New York as Executive Director, Travel Retail Marketing in 2001.
Assa was named Senior Vice President and General Manager, Estée Lauder, Travel Retail Worldwide, in 2014, and held that position until 2016, when he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Business Operations, Travel Retail Worldwide.
In 2019, he was promoted to the post of President, Commercial, Travel Retail Worldwide.
Since then, Assa, according to ELC, has supervised remarkable expansion in the travel retail industry.
He created a centralized Centre of Excellence in Switzerland to strengthen the organization’s service to global and regional retailers while overseeing travel retail’s regional businesses in APAC, EMEA, and the Americas.
According to ELC, he has been a “steadying force” during the global epidemic and continues to be an advocate of diversity and inclusion, actively encouraging the next generation of black beauty talent and bolstering ELC’s position within the Hispanic and Latino marketplace and community.
ELC describes him as a “passionate brand steward and brand creator who has consistently championed innovation inside the travel retail channel, uniquely prepared to head ELC’s winning travel retail company.”
“We are proud of the tremendous breadth and quality of talent across the organization, and as Olivier retires, we are thrilled to elevate Israel and Javier, two dynamic, internally-trained, and highly experienced leaders, to these roles of higher responsibility,” Jueptner said.
“Israel’s in-depth knowledge of our travel retail business, his long-standing relationships with merchants and airport landlords, and his enthusiasm for our customers position him perfectly to lead ELC’s travel retail business into the next phase of expansion.”
“In his new role as Global President, Travel Retail Worldwide, I look forward to working closely with Israel to move this industry forward.”
“ELC is committed to investing in and cultivating our local and international talent around the world, especially leaders like Israel and Javier, who have considerable first-hand experience in travel retail and deep global understanding across all facets of luxury beauty,” says the company.
