VIETNAM. Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) last night joined Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG) as a co-host of The Trinity Forum 2024 during a memorable signing ceremony and gala dinner in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Trinity Forum – widely recognised as the world’s most influential airport commercial revenues conference – takes place in the city on 5-6 November.
The hosting agreement was inked at the famous Rex Hotel by event organisers The Moodie Davitt Report, ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East (APAC & MID) and ACI World and joint hosts Airports Corporation of Vietnam and Imex Pan Pacific Group.
Over 70 guests, plus over 50 media titles and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) were in attendance.
Created by The Moodie Davitt Report in 2003, The Trinity Forum has flourished in stature to become a critical annual gathering to help shape and improve airport and travel retail services and revenues.
IPPG Founder and Chairman Johnathan Hanh Nguyen told guests: “Thirty-nine years ago, the Vietnamese government entrusted me with the crucial task of opening Vietnam’s skies by launching international flights. Having successfully accomplished that mission, my enduring ambition has been to bring the best of the world to Vietnam.
“Today marks a significant milestone as we decide to host The Trinity Forum 2024 here in Ho Chi Minh City. This event is an integral part of our longstanding strategy to develop the aviation and travel retail industries, which our group has been actively pursuing for many years.
“The Trinity Forum is an esteemed international platform in the travel retail and aviation sectors, attracting hundreds of attendees, including speakers, experts, industry leaders and investors from over 50 countries annually for more than two decades. The Forum has played a pivotal role in the global development of these industries.
“As we all know, Ho Chi Minh City is a major hub of economic, cultural, educational, and technological activities and serves as a vital gateway for international trade and integration. This strategic position presents significant potential for diversifying economic activities, including aviation and tourism-related retail.
“Hosting the renowned Trinity Forum here in November 2024 offers us a tremendous opportunity to share experiences, promote tourism and showcase the culture and people of Vietnam.
“We will strive to collaborate closely with all relevant parties to ensure the organisational aspects are handled excellently, so that every delegate attending The Trinity Forum in November 2024 will have an unforgettable experience in our country, Vietnam.
“Today, ACV and IPPG are proud to co-host The Trinity Forum in November 2024. We believe this collaboration will foster a prosperous future for the aviation and travel retail industries in Vietnam.”
State Capital at Enterprises Vice Chairman of Commission for the Management Nguyen Ngoc Canh said: “This signing ceremony underscores the robust and professional collaboration between the organising parties, The Moodie Davitt Report, ACI World and ACI Asia & Middle East, together with the local co-hosts – ACV, the leading state-owned enterprise responsible for managing and operating 21 airports across Vietnam and IPPG, representing the aviation, airport investment, duty-free business, retail and tourism sectors.
“Through this event, I hope that it will elevate the status on the international tourism and shopping map, attract investments into the retail sector, and stimulate economic growth based on tourism, thereby creating jobs, increasing income for our citizens and enhancing service quality.”
The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said: “I created The Trinity Forum back in 2003 as an effort to foster enhanced mutual understanding between airport and travel retail sector stakeholders. This would, I believe, mean the travelling consumer would be better served and airport commercial services and revenues would improve by focusing on growing the pie – rather than who got the greatest slice.
“The event has been hosted in some of the world’s great cities… all hotbeds of the aviation and travel retail world. So why Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam? And why now? The answer, Ladies and Gentlemen, is that Vietnam is truly one of the world’s fastest-developing, most exciting airport, aviation, tourism and travel retail markets.
“Over the past few years I have visited Ho Chi Minh City on several occasions. I never fail to be amazed by its energy, vitality and determination to create a better future. And those same qualities are playing out in the worlds of aviation and tourism. Our hosts for this year, Airports Corporation of Vietnam and IPP Group, are highly professional, forward-thinking companies dedicated to providing world-class services for Vietnamese and international travellers alike.
“Their plans are in turn attracting the intense interest of the biggest brands, most powerful travel retailers, the top food & beverage providers and more. All those sectors will be strongly represented at The Trinity Forum in Ho Chi Minh City, not just for the opportunities they see today – but for tomorrow and long into the future.
“Travel retail, whether in international terminals or domestic terminals, will play a key role in the Vietnamese government’s master plan to construct eight new airports across the country – led of course by the hugely ambitious Long Thanh Airport project, set to become Vietnam’s biggest and best airport.”
{ACI World Director Luis Felipe de Oliveira sent this message of support to guests at the official signing ceremony for the hosting of The Trinity Forum 2024}
ACI World Director Luis Felipe de Oliveira commented: “As airports navigate the evolving landscape of travel and commerce, fostering robust partnerships with retailers is paramount for both airport economic sustainability and enhancing the passenger experience. With projections pointing towards a doubling of passenger numbers by 2042, airports must innovate their commercial strategies to meet evolving customer demands; and this begins now.
“As we convene in Vietnam for the 2024 Trinity Forum with hosts ACV and IPP Group, we will embark on never-before seen dialogues between airports, brands, and concessionaires, alongside their business partners in the travel retail sector – all to ensure that airports remain vibrant hubs of commerce and connectivity in the years to come.”
ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East Director General Stefano Baronci said: “As the Vietnamese proverb has it, ‘One tree cannot make a hill, but three trees together can make a high mountain’. The Trinity Forum is faithful to this belief, through the relationship that it has created first between airport operators, brands and concessionaires in developing the commercial business at airports.
“But also through the long-lasting cooperation between the Trinity ACI World, ACI Asia Pacific and The Moodie Davitt Report. The non-aeronautical revenues are a critical source of income for airports, particularly in Asia, to boost profitability but also as additional cushion during economic downturns.
“In partnership with the national authorities, ACV has gigantic plans of infrastructure development, with the announced target of increasing to 30 the number of airports in 2030, an investment of almost US$18 billion that will add 200 million pax capacity to the existing one. A pre-condition for creating the necessary Sense of Place and space for a better customer experience.
“This event serves as a platform to exchange ideas and explore innovation and develop strategies… together, let us build on the positive momentum of the aviation industry and redefine the boundaries of what our airports can achieve.”
The Moodie View: The Trinity Forum coming to Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam for the first time is a very big deal for the city and the country.
That was abundantly clear last night from the powerful line-up of dignitaries and a 50-strong media delegation to attend the most lavish signing ceremony in the event’s 21-year history.
Airports Corporation of Vietnam’s decision to join IPPG – parent company of IPP Travel Retail – as The Trinity Forum co-host underlines its acute awareness of the vital role of non-aeronautical, commercial revenues and a desire to grow them while also enhancing the consumer offer to international and local travellers.
IPPG Founder and Chairman Johnathan Hanh Nguyen is a key figure in realising that mission. Acknowledged as a pioneering figure of aviation and airport services in Vietnam, his vision of developing these activities to world-class level – beautifully and sometimes emotionally articulated last night – is fast coming to fruition.
Nguyen is determined to bring industry leaders from across the travel retail and wider airport commercial revenues sector to Vietnam this November. Few will need prompting, for The Trinity Forum 2024 is shaping as a seminal occasion in this burgeoning country’s aviation and touristic development. ✈
Note: Registration will open soon for the Trinity Forum. You can visit the dedicated website for the event here.
Details of more sponsorship agreements and confirmed speakers will follow soon.
For sponsorship enquiries, please contact Irene Revilla at Irene@MoodieDavittReport.com
For speaking opportunities and organisational enquiries, please reach out to Vincci Chung at Vincci@MoodieDavittReport.com
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