TFWA Managing Director John Rimmer
There was much to celebrate this week when the Asia Pacific duty free and travel retail industry reunited for the first time in three years in Singapore at TFWA Asia Pacific Live.
TFWA reports that 677 delegates from 235 companies attended the event at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre to network with industry peers and participate in workshops which took place across the three days. A breakdown of the figures shows that 261 representatives from 43 buyers and landlords, 100 representatives from 56 agents, and 206 delegates from 83 brands attended, alongside a range of industry colleagues, partners and representatives from the press.
Attendees took advantage of the opportunity to network in-person: 411 meetings took place throughout the event via TFWA’s ONE2ONE meeting service, in addition to a myriad of meetings which took place outside this service. Networking lunches and hosted coffee breaks provided additional opportunities to catch up with industry colleagues throughout the three days. Delegates also enjoyed after-work drinks on Monday and Tuesday night, and an informal wine tasting on Wednesday evening.
TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen
Six workshops took place over the course of the event, kicking off with opening addresses from TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen and Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) president Sunil Tuli, after which delegates heard from renowned futurist and Fourth Industrial Revolution expert Charlie Ang on how new technologies and modes of consumption are changing the way we do business.
Sunil Tuli, APTRA President (and Group Chief Executive of King Power Group)
APTRA Executive Director Anne Kavanagh
Throughout the week, other workshops took place exploring such topics as the travel retail markets in India and the wider Asia Pacific region, the digital transformation in Southeast Asia and how the increasing presence of technology in travel will shape the consumer way of life and what ‘sustainability’ truly means for shoppers in Asia, along with a knowledge-sharing session aimed at updating APTRA members and their business partners on the current status of the duty free and travel retail industry.
Replays of all these sessions will be available soon on TFWA 365.
Networking at the TFWA Lounge in Singapore.
