News

A world class line-up of speakers will be taking to the stage at this year’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes. The Conference opens at 09:00 on Monday, 1st October with a welcome address from TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen, who will provide an overview on the current state of the industry, including the latest available sales data. In his last address in his role as TFWA President, Erik will also give a personal view of the future of the industry, and TFWA’s role within it.

Attendees will then hear from a panel of senior retail executives as they explore pressing issues affecting the duty free and travel retail industry. Speakers will include Dufry CEO Julián Díaz González, Gebr Heinemann Co-owner Claus Heinemann, Lagardère Travel Retail CEO Dag Rasmussen and King Power International Senior Executive Vice President Susan Whelan, who will address how the industry can and must adapt to meet new business challenges.

The second part of the Conference will include insight from former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen and scientist and adventurer Dr Bertrand Piccard. Mr Rasmussen has been at the heart of European and global politics for three decades, and will draw on his experience to help make sense of the forces at work in today’s fragile geopolitical landscape. Dr Piccard, meanwhile, will share inspiring stories of his experiences in business and exploration – including conceiving and piloting the Solar Impulse, the first entirely solar-powered aircraft to fly around the world – as well as looking at the future of clean technologies.

As always, TFWA World Exhibition & Conference will also feature a series of morning workshops to explore specific themes in detail.

On Tuesday, 2nd October at 08:00 to 09:00 in the Salon Croisette, Hotel Majestic, the Digital Focus Workshop will highlight the importance of coherent digital strategies to brands and retailers in the duty free and travel retail market. Using a number of case studies, the workshops will explore best practice and pitfalls to avoid, with perspectives from several key regions. Among the speakers at the workshop will be Ivo Knuesel, Head of Category Planning at Mondelez World Travel Retail, who will discuss how digital engagement is central to the company’s airport strategy. Shi Ling Tan, Digital Manager Global at Shiseido Travel Retail, will also explore how new technologies are revolutionising the beauty sector, while JCDecaux Marketing & Business Development Director Jérôme Lepage will analyse the role of advertising in creating highly-targeted, real-time marketing campaigns in duty free and travel retail.

Attendees at the Digital Focus Workshop will also hear from European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC) Deputy Secretary General Julie Lassaigne, who will unveil the organisation’s groundbreaking new digital solution to mitigate the potential harmful effects of new packaging regulations in duty free and travel retail.

On Wednesday, 3rd October, also at 08:00 to 09:00 in the Salon Croisette, Hotel Majestic, the Inflight Focus Workshop will look at the opportunities for airlines, concessionaires and brands to capitalise on rising passenger traffic and innovation in communication and traveller engagement. At the workshop, travel retail specialist Counter Intelligence Retail (CiR) will reveal highlights of a major new research study commissioned by TFWA to better understand passenger behaviour and perceptions of the current inflight retail offer. The study is based on online and on-site interviews with inflight shoppers and non-shoppers from all major travelling nationalities. Highlights of the report will be presented by one of its authors, Stephen Hillam, Research Director at CiR, and the key findings will be discussed by a panel of leading inflight retail executives, including Retail inMotion Senior Manager Global Boutique Development Joe Harvey, and Head of Qatar Duty Free Thabet Musleh.

The workshops are open to all delegates at TFWA World Exhibition & Conference but pre-registration is essential in order to guarantee your place; please pre-register by emailing conference@tfwa.com.

TFWA World Exhibition & Conference will take place at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. For more information please visit: http://www.tfwa.com/duty_free/Conference-workshops.156.0.html