AUSTRALIA. Leading airport and travel retail advisory firm The Mercurius Group held a ‘first-of-its-kind’ Travel Retail Bootcamp in Tasmania last week.
The forum brought together Tasmanian brands, travel retail experts from Mercurius and buyers from the region’s leading airport retailers – Lagardère AWPL and SSP Australia & New Zealand.
The Bootcamp was also attended by representatives from event sponsors and supporters including Hobart Airport, Department of State Growth (Tasmania), THINK Global Research and Callington Mill Distillery.
“The event is receiving a great deal of positive feedback and requests to bring the format to other regions,” noted The Mercurius Group.
The Travel Retail Bootcamp concept seeks to drive engagement between the Trinity of brands, airports and retailers – supported by industry experts – in a quest to meet the growing demand for localisation and sense of place within the airport commercial mix.
The Mercurius Group Managing Director Ivo Favotto explained: “Weaving an authentic local product story into the travel retail offer plays a critical role in creating meaningful passenger experiences.
“Our vision for the Bootcamp is to connect the various players involved and to best empower these stakeholder collaborations.”
Favotto cited open exchange of information as being a central theme for the Bootcamp: “Entry into the travel retail channel can be a daunting task for local brands and boutique producers. Supplying airport stores involves dynamics not seen off-airport, including logistics specific to the industry.
“In facilitating these connections, our first step is peeling back the mystique of airport retail, and helping local brands build a clear roadmap for how they can enter, and succeed, within the channel.”
For the event, Mercurius assembled experts who offered a comprehensive 360-degree view of the opportunities and mechanics involved in the travel retail channel.
Speakers included experts from the Mercurius team; Hobart Airport (Platinum Sponsor) CEO Norris Carter and Head of Commercial Belinda Bresnehan; Lagardère AWPL Chief Commercial & Digital Officer Chris Laverty; and SSP Australia Commercial Manager Tom Harrison.
THINK Global Reserach Managing Director Kristy Ihle presented a deep dive into consumer insights, while Lark Distilling Co Sales Director Jason Lees and Starward Whisky Commercial Director Scott English shared a brand perspective as they discussed respective entries into the channel.
Fostering interaction between different stakeholders was The Mercurius Group’s desired outcome for the Bootcamp.
Uprising Glassware Owner Kurt Menzies commented: “It was a great opportunity to learn about the peculiarities of the travel retail world and to network with some heavy hitters from the industry, alongside other local brands.”
Carter said: “When The Mercurius Group first approached us with the Travel Retail Bootcamp concept, adding our support behind the initiative was an easy decision to make.
“Hobart Airport is fully committed in our desire to champion local Tasmanian brands, and to showcase the best our region has to offer within our retail and food & beverage programme. The Bootcamp was the perfect vessel to help us deliver on this mission.”
Mercurius is now planning a broad roll-out of the concept to other airports. Interested parties can email Ivo Favotto at ifavotto@themercuriusgroup.com to discuss how the concept could work in different regions. ✈
