There is an air of excitement around the 2024 ASUTIL Conference taking place in Bogotá. This year’s event is the first ASUTIL in Colombia, and is also the first Conference with Carlos Loaiza-Keel as head of the South American Duty Free Association, after he took over for Jose Luis Donagaray as Secretary General late last year. The ASUTIL Conference, which will once again be managed by TFWA, continuing the successful partnership established in 2023, sold out all 300 spots available weeks before the event.
All of these factors have Loaiza-Keel optimistic about the 2024 ASUTIL Conference as well as the recovering travel retail industry in Latin America.
“It has been a year full of excitement, challenges, and hard work with the excellent team that José Luis has put together,” Loaiza-Keel tells TMI.
“This conference will not only celebrate ASUTIL’s past but also pave the way for an exciting evolution in the travel retail industry,” he said, announcing Bogotá as the location at last year’s TFWA World Exhibition.
TFWA honored and recognized Donagaray’s contributions at the press conference in Cannes, and Loaiza-Keel has informed TMI that the former Secretary General will attend ASUTIL as a special guest.
“José Luis is a key figure for the duty free industry in Latin America and one of the main reasons why ASUTIL is in such great shape after so many years. But above all, he is a generous friend, a dedicated and rigorous worker and a man of principles. This explains the extraordinary development of ASUTIL over the years, and the depth and quality of the relationships he built with so many in the industry,” he says.
“There is no doubt that all of this will be missed, but he has built an extraordinary team, together with Ms. Silvia Gestal and Mr. Diego de Freitas, to whom I would like to pay tribute. This is also a credit to José Luis. And we are sure that he will always be close to us, helping us every step of the way.”
Loaiza-Keel emphasized the organization’s commitment to fostering regional integration and exploring new horizons, and underscored the significant business opportunities in the region.
Bogotá, a pivotal hub for the duty free and travel retail industry in South America and the Caribbean, is a vibrant and culturally rich city that can offer attendees an engaging atmosphere in which to discuss the latest developments within the industry.
Loaiza-Keel tells TMI that it is an opportune time for the Latin America travel retail industry.
“The industry has been developing in a very good way and is expanding at a good pace,” he says.
2024 will be the year passenger traffic in the region will surpass 2019 numbers.
According to m1nd-set, passenger traffic in Latin American airports will reach 108% in 2024 compared to the traffic in 2019, approximately 127 million passengers compared to 118 million passengers in 2019 (and 121 million passengers in 2023).
The top 10 LATAM airports, in order, are: Cancun, Panama, Mexico, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Lima, Santiago, Punta Cana, Ezeiza, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.
“This trend is global, as reported in the latest DFWC Quarterly Global Shopping Monitor, and there is also evidence of the Chinese tourist returning, a different tourist from the pre-pandemic, with more young people,” he says.
“As well as airport retail, we have also seen a major expansion of retail on cruise ships and, of course, at the borders.”
Challenges
While the passenger numbers are improving, Loaiza-Keel says the association is working with its sister organizations to take on the critical challenges facing the entire industry.
“We are working directly with the Duty Free World Council (DFWC) on tasks related to the control of the illicit tobacco trade (MOP4). We are also working closely with consultants, organizations and authorities from various Latin American countries. We are also involved in improving various regulatory aspects related to the Brazilian and Uruguayan borders,” he says.
The industry is also stepping up and working to help those who have been impacted by the devastating floods in Brazil.
“It goes without saying that the Free Shops companies operating in Brazil, and especially on the border of Rio Grande do Sul, which has been so badly affected by the floods, have taken the issue seriously. They are actively involved in making donations to those most in need.”