CHINA. TFWA, in partnership with the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA), has today announced its first China conference, which will be held at the Beijing Hotel, Beijing from 5 to 7 March 2013.
The event will be the second travel retail conference in China – earllier this year Chinese company GIS Events and Ink of the UK announced they would be holding an annual ‘China Travel Retail Event’, with this year’s taking place in Shanghai on 24-25 July (which will be moderated this year by The Moodie Report).
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TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen: “We believe the time is right for a full China conference” |
At a special press briefing held in London this afternoon, TFWA explained that the new conference had been developed in response to high volumes of requests from its members and other stakeholders.
When asked about the fact that Ink and GIS were also holding an (annual) China event, TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen said: “TFWA’s China conference has been a long time in development, around ten years to be exact, and the recent announcement by Ink and GIS has had no significance or bearing on either today’s announcement or the fact that as an association we are simply responding to a demand from our membership and providing them with a platform they have asked for.” [Certainly the industry calendar in Asia starts to look very crowded for 2013 with The Trinity Forum in its long-established time-slot of February or early March, almost certainly in Asia, the TFWA event in early March, TFWA Asia Pacific in mid-May and the Ink/GIS China event in July – Ed].
The new TFWA event, entitled ‘China’s Century – The Fast Pace of Change in China Duty Free & Travel Retail’, will bring together key decision makers from China’s aviation industry, including airlines and airports, and retailers and suppliers from the international duty free and travel industry.
The programme will look at the potential of both the duty free and duty paid retail sectors which have been boosted by substantial investment in airports of all sizes in China, said TFWA.
Airport architecture and airport retail design in both the domestic and international channels will be covered as well as an examination of the innovative methods employed by Chinese airports to differentiate and engage the Chinese and international travellers.
Results of independent research into consumer behaviour and retail spend will be presented at the China Conference as well as insights from experts on communicating with Chinese consumers through new media.
The two-day conference will feature an opening cocktail on 5 March 2013 alongside various other business networking opportunities staged at spectacular historic locations, the association confirmed.
Juul-Mortensen said: “TFWA has long had an ambition to stage a conference or workshop focusing on the important Chinese duty free and travel retail market, a market which presents many cultural and logistical hurdles. The Chinese market has now become so important that, based on our members’ requests, we believe the time is right for a full China Conference.”
APTRA President Sunil Tuli added: “China is an extremely exciting market with immense potential for travel retail stakeholders. APTRA is pleased to be staging this conference with a partner who has all the expertise to organise a successful event and for our part we will bring considerable local knowledge to the table. I recommend the China Conference to all those who wish to stake a claim in this new duty free and travel retail territory.”