San Antonio reopens duty-free tender

Print Article E-Mail Article

After intense lobbying for the San Antonio International airport duty-free concession, the City Council decided last week there were too many concerns hanging over the contract and has opened it for bid again, according to local reports

The award, due to be made last week, is being contested between the incumbent operator Duty Free Americas (DFA) and San Antonio Duty Free, an affiliate of Tampa-based Stellar Partners formerly known as Stellar Partners Texas.

According to the reports, the controversy surrounds the decision of City Council members to vote against the recommendation to displace DFA in favour of San Antonio Duty Free. The DFA offer reportedly had a 50% representation by minorities under the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programme, while that of San Antonio Duty Free was 80%. At stake are concession sales of more than $1m per year.

One issue was that Stellar Partners Texas included state Senator Mario Gallegos as a 10% stakeholder until September, which council members said represented a conflict of interest. Local press reports also said a lobbyist retained by DFA had made contributions to the San Antonio city mayor's fund raising campaign.