AMERICAS. The Summit of the Americas will return in physical form next year at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Florida from 10 to 13 April. The venue and timing was shared by the International Association of Airport and Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) during today’s IAADFS webinar, Progress, and Where We Go From Here, which involved key figures from the Americas travel retail sector.
“Our goal is to make this an inclusive, cost effective and user-friendly experience” – IAADFS President and CEO Michael Payne
IAADFS President and CEO Michael Payne said: “The Board of Directors, after some very thoughtful and considerate discussions combined with some feedback from our supplier and buyer community, have decided to go forward with a live event in Palm Beach, Florida in April 2022.”
Payne told The Moodie Davitt Report that IAADFS had engaged with long-time partner, South American duty free association ASUTIL, on how they could collaborate for the event in 2022.
He added that the format of the 2022 event will be substantially different than previous years, with the primary focus on executive learning and business networking.
He said there will be “ample face-to-face opportunities” through the use of several private meeting rooms and limited public space. There will also be a smaller-scale exhibition than at the event previously, plus a series of social gatherings.
Payne continued: “Our goal is to make this an inclusive, cost effective and user-friendly experience. We hope to attract people engaged in every sector of the travel and duty free retail experience.
“We’re going to work together with other organisations and other entities to develop content that we think will be of the highest quality and that will be of real value and interest to the membership and our attendees.
“We also want to leave time for people to plan their day with a little bit more independence and freedom than perhaps we used to, where we [previously] scheduled everything so tightly.”
Payne also noted that the event will adhere to all public health and safety requirements that are in effect at that time.
“No one knows exactly what travel is going to look like seven months from now,” said Payne. “But we’re prepared to make things safe and secure. We are optimistic that the problem [with COVID-19] will be very different than today and hopefully more and more people will be ready for a Spring re-emergence next year.”
Payne said that most of IAADFS’s retailer members have already committed to participate and he was confident that suppliers will also attend in significant numbers.
He said IAADFS is now working hard to get the event website up and running. “We’ll do that as quickly as we can,” he said. “We’re starting a little bit later than normal. But I think everybody understands that this is not a normal timeframe. It took us a while to really get to this point that we wanted to go forward.
“But for now, what I would like you to do is just note the dates planned and help us to spread the word. We’re going to need your support. We’re very excited about being back together face-to-face again in Palm Beach, Florida next year.”
The 2021 version of The Summit of the Americas (IAADFS and ASUTIL) had been switched to an all-digital format, staged in partnership with The Moodie Davitt Report and FILTR.QINGWA, as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
A full report of the IAADFS webinar will appear on The Moodie Davitt Report website in the coming days.
