FRANCE. Tax Free World Association (TFWA) President Erik Juul-Mortenson has urged association members to lend whole-hearted support to this year’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes (2-6 October), warning that the very existence of the association is in jeopardy without a successful event.
In a letter sighted by The Moodie Davitt Report, Juul-Mortensen said: “The fact that we have been forced to review the format of our Asia Pacific event means that this year’s TFWA World Exhibition and Conference in Cannes is even more vital to the future of the Association.”
Driven by the impact of the fast-spreading Omicron variant in the region, TFWA is to host a scaled-down ‘live networking event’ on 10-11 May in Singapore to replace the in-person TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition originally planned for 9-12 May. TFWA Asia Pacific Live will feature a conference and workshops at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, along with the opportunity to arrange in-person meetings.
In his letter to members, Juul-Mortensen continues: “We hope very much that TFWA members and their business partners will support the event, which will help our Association maintain our profile and our presence in the industry’s largest market.”
Outlining the crucial nature of the 2022 TFWA World Exhibition, Juul-Mortensen wrote: “We are focusing all our efforts and resources to ensure a successful Cannes event without which it is no exaggeration to say that the continued existence of TFWA will be under threat.
“We are fortunate to have been able to build solid financial reserves that have served us well over the past two years but these reserves now have to be rebuilt in order to safeguard the association’s future and to ensure we can continue to serve the duty free and travel retail industry and also support the vital work of the regional associations around the world.”
Juul-Mortensen emphasised that TFWA is a not-for-profit association rather than a commercial entity, one that exists to provide a platform for brands and the global duty free, travel retail and wider retail market to prosper.
“Our motto is and always has been ‘By the trade for the trade’ and we cannot exist without the support of our members,” he said. “We therefore need your continued membership and full participation in our events.”
In a stern message to those companies which seek to benefit from the Cannes flagship event without contributing to it, he added: “And by ‘full participation’, we mean taking a stand at our events rather than profiting from them by drawing buyers away from the show to meetings in hotel suites and apartments. Such actions threaten the continued existence of our events, and of our association.”
Juul-Mortensen said that the travel retail sector’s response to this year’s Cannes event has been positive despite a challenging market environment. “We need the support of all our members and of the retailer community to maintain that positive momentum,” he concluded. “In return, we will do all we can to ensure that our events help accelerate the recovery our market desperately needs.”
Juul-Mortensen had no further comment to make when approached by The Moodie Davitt Report.
The Moodie View
As every player in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry – including The Moodie Davitt Report – has learned to their cost, planning in-person events during a pandemic is a devilishly complex and unpredictable business.
When the event in question is one that involves attendees and exhibitors from multiple countries, that complexity is ratcheted up considerably. Not only do local conditions and restrictions come into play but so do the travel restraints applicable in each visitor’s home market. Ultimately that volatile and deeply uncertain mix in a hard-hit region forced the change to the Singapore format.
Cannes is a different proposition, positioned as a global rather than regional event. To its credit, TFWA managed to pull off a quietly successful show in 2021, albeit one with few Asia Pacific visitors. With travel restrictions now eased or scrapped in many countries, and with a fair wind behind it (i.e. no further more dangerous COVID-19 variants or related travel constraints), the Association is understandably putting intensive efforts into making its flagship event a big success.
Juul-Mortensen is right to spell out just how high the stakes are. Trade associations do not survive by right. They need to both justify their existence and earn their way. The TFWA President’s comment about companies piggybacking off the efforts and investment of others is unusually strong but in the circumstances highly appropriate. After the vicissitudes of the past two years (going on three by the time of the show), it is time for the travel retail community to prove that indeed it is one.
