SINGAPORE. The Rt Hon Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong and former EU Commissioner for External Relations, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s TFWA Asia Pacific Conference on 16 May in Singapore.
Lord Patten will address delegates on “˜Asia: where will it go from here?’. He will discuss the political and economic status of the key countries of Asia, assessing how their roles have changed on the world stage and outlining his view of their future.
TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen will kick off the conference with his “˜State of the Industry’ address. He will present an industry perspective on the impact of growth and liberalisation in China, the recovery of the Japanese economy, and the remarkable way in which countries on the Indian Ocean rim have begun to recover from the tsunami catastrophe.
After a coffee break sponsored by Ferrero, delegates will be invited to attend one of three workshops:
• “˜Low Cost Carriers and the Next Generation Passengers’ led by Peter Harbison, Managing Director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. A panel of speakers will look at how the retail mix should change as tomorrow’s consumers enter the market.
• “˜Understanding the Chinese Traveller’ led by retailing and consumer specialists with a review of key findings from TFWA’s study of Chinese travellers.
• “˜Japanese Travellers: The Big Spenders Today and Tomorrow’ – an analysis of the impact of demographic and economic changes on the travel retail market with statistical evidence from JTM/TFWA consumer research.
The TFWA Asia Pacific Conference and travel retail exhibition will take place from 16-19 May at Singapore’s Suntec Centre. Pre-registration will be available from 8 March to 22 April. For details, visit www.tfwa.com.
