INTERNATIONAL. The Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) + Hospitality Conference & Awards will take place on 12-13 September in Bangkok, Thailand after a four-year COVID-driven absence.
The Moodie Davitt Report event, created in 2011 and hosted annually until the pandemic, will be held at the Millennium Hilton Bangkok. FAB Award categories, judges and deadlines will be revealed soon along with an official FAB registration and information site, including partnership opportunities* and preferential room rates.
This year’s FAB will take place amid unprecedented interest in the airport F&B sector, culminating in travel retailer Dufry’s recently-concluded merger with world food services number one Autogrill.
Notably, FAB’s remit has been extended to feature wider airport hospitality services, including hotels and lounges. The Moodie Davitt Report can also reveal that FAB will return to North America in 2024 for the third time after highly successful earlier editions in Toronto and Dallas.
The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said, “Airport food & beverage has never enjoyed such prominence, both in terms of industry activity and investment as well as its encouraging resurgence from the crisis.
“FAB has played a critical role in the sector’s qualitative revolution of the past decade. It is the only global airport F&B event, one that champions and rewards excellence while also helping to chart a progressive path for the industry.
“It is a natural extension of the FAB concept to broaden the event to embrace other hospitality services, including airport hotels and lounges, elements that are fundamental to the whole airport consumer experience.
{Click on the YouTube icon to view highlights of an unforgettable FAB 2019 hosted by Dallas Fort Worth International Airport}
“We are boosting our coverage of F&B significantly this year, having doubled the frequency of our popular FAB newsletter from March and boosted our online FAB section, complemented by exciting new projects in the pipeline. We pledge a dynamic, challenging and progressive conference agenda complemented by the only global recognition of excellence across the whole airport food & beverage and hospitality sectors. We can promise a FABulous event.”
The last in-person FAB was held at Dallas Forth Worth International Airport in 2019 – the first time the event, founded in 2011, had been held in the USA. The FAB Awards, the only global recognition of excellence in airport food & beverage, attracted a record 302 entries.
The 2023 event will see not only the conference content extended to the wider airport hospitality sector but also the FAB Awards. The awards will also incorporate the hugely popular FAB Superstars Awards held virtually over the past two years to celebrate the critical role of staff in our industry.
*For all partnership, speaker, content and other enquiries please contact Jeannie Wong, The Moodie Davitt Report Asia Bureau Chief and Head of Marketing & Events at Jeannie@MoodieDavittReport.com ✈
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report publishes the FAB Newsletter, which features highlights of openings, events and campaigns from around the world of airport and travel dining.
Please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com to subscribe.
{Listen to Dufry CEO Xavier Rossinyol speak to Martin Moodie about the Autogrill opportunity – from 03.35 – and the wider F&B and travel retail market in this compelling interview first shown at The Trinity Forum in Singapore last November}
