Bloomberg News has reported that Brazil won’t return to growth until at least 2018 after two years of recession and one of stagnation, according to the International Monetary Fund. This would mark the first time in over a century that Latin America’s largest economy fails to expand for that long. On Tuesday, the IMF cut […]
Brazil
How Uruguay’s Melancia Mall aims to change shopping on the Brazilian border
A TRAVEL MARKETS INSIDER SPECIAL REPORT By John Gallagher On Thursday, November 5 of this year, the US$70 million Melancia Mall, the largest shopping complex in Northern Uruguay, opened its doors on the outskirts of the border town of Rivera. Originally scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2014, poor weather –including heavy […]
L’Oréal TRAM and Dufry engage Americas’ passengers with Polo Red Panamerican racing challenge
L’Oréal’s Travel Retail subsidiary in the Americas (TRAM), in partnership with Dufry Group, embarked on a month-long, ground-breaking animation for its best- selling Polo Red franchise in September. The Ralph Lauren experience animation was TRAM’s first digital pan-American competition using Facebook targeted to airport passengers. Since its launch in 2013, Polo Red has been […]
Downturn in Latin America impacts entire region
Enjoying nearly 10 years of uninterrupted economic growth, the duty free business in Latin America reaped the benefits of growing economies throughout the region. Indications of a slowdown surfaced more than a year ago. Raw material prices, a principal element in Latin American exports, have been falling since early in 2014, leading to currency instability […]
Dufry opens five Hudson concept stores at RIOGaleão
Dufry has opened the first five stores of its Hudson convenience store concept at RIOGaleão (Tom Jobim International Airport). Three of the Hudson stores are in Terminal 1 and two others are in Terminal 2. The Hudson duty-paid convenience stores offer a broad selection of travel-related essentials including confectionery, personal care items, souvenirs, electronics and […]
ASUTIL President Urioste: Complex issues, but worst is behind us
ASUTIL President and Neutral CEO Enrique Urioste took a few minutes during the 2015 ASUTIL Conference to discuss with TMI the complexity of the crisis in Brazil and how it is effecting the travel retail industry throughout Latin America. Brazil is in the midst of an economic crisis and a political crisis, he said. “First […]
Jose Carlos Rosa takes top job at Lojas Francas
Jose Carlos Rosa has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Lojas Francas de Portugal (LFP), the joint venture company owned by TAP Air Portugal and Dufry. Rosa took over the top job at LFP at the beginning of February, from Nuno Amaral, who stepped down last year. The capital of LFP is shared by TAP […]
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings targets Brazil for growth
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. announced this week that it was establishing a local sales, marketing and reservations center in Sao Paulo, Brazil “to support the growing demand for cruise travel in the region.” NCLH acquired Firstar Representacoes, the local representative for Norwegian Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises in Brazil. The company will have its […]
Duty Free Americas wins its first airport duty free concession in Brazil
Duty Free Americas has been awarded a 10-year contract to operate the duty free concession at Afonso Pena International Airport in Curitiba, Brazil. The contract will commence in February 2015. Initially, the retail space will consist of approximately 2,320 square feet in the arrivals terminal and approximately 400 square feet in the departures terminal. Both […]
