INTERNATIONAL. Former Travel Retail Training and Inflight Sales Person of the Year (ISPY) event Managing Director Christine Martin has launched a travel retail ‘Go for Gold’ award programme.
The awards recognise best practice and excellence across selected categories within the channel. Confirmed categories and judges include:
- Confectionery – New Thing Head of Sales and former Mars Confectionery International Travel Retail Manager Martyn Westbury
- Cosmetics & Suncare – Pivot305 Consulting Founder and former DFASS Group Senior Vice President Vendor Relations Carolyn Mariani
- Fashion – Consulting for Retail Owner and former Dufry Chief Procurement Officer Liz Woodland
- Spirits – former Master of Malt Editor Kristiane Sherry
- Jewellery – former Pandora International Inflight Sales Director and Clogau Head of Global Sales David Butler
- Timepieces – Volaire Athletique Co-founder and Managing Director and former Gebr. Heinemann Head of Buying Fashion Viola Denke
- Sunglasses – former Dufry Group Global Category Manager Sunglasses UK and Spain Luca Molin
- Electronics – former Hanse Distribution Sales Director Anna Berezhnaya
- Travel Accessories – Former Travel Blue Executive Director Jonathan Smith
- Above and Beyond (individual and team awards) – Alfa Step One Chief People Officer and former Dufry Group Senior VP Human Resources Marcus Griffin.
“The brands and their products need as much good news as possible as they navigate through these challenging times,” Martin said.
“The transparency of these awards is clear for all to see and the knowledge and wide-ranging experience of the judging criteria creators, who also serve as our judges, aims to provide confidence and quality assurance in the value of entering.”
The opening date for awards entry submission is 3 April and closing date 2 June, with a £250/US$300 (plus 20% VAT where applicable) entry fee.
Martin pointed out that Go for Gold awards support the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) as eligibility requires products to be shown at the association’s World Exhibition in Cannes. The ppt format of the entry form enables brands to use award entries for additional marketing purposes. Only one sample product is required to accompany each entry.
Bronze, silver and gold certificates will be presented on the opening day of the TFWA World Exhibition, along with a map of all winners.
Further details are available from Travel Retail Go for Gold Awards Founder Christine Martin on tr.goforgoldawards@gmail.com. 
