Travel Markets Insider Newsletter Vol. 20 No. 4

The Travel Markets Insider newsletter is attached to this post as a PDF file. To open the PDF file, please click on this link.

 

NOTE:  Registration is now open for the 2019 DFA Charity Golf Tournament, taking place Jan. 31 in Miami in support of the Children’s Tumor Foundation. For more information, please go to the event websitedfagolf.com/
This week we take a long look at the Frontier Duty Free Association’s Convention, which took place last week in Toronto, Canada and welcomed a new format and a new director. The effort received mostly positive reviews and certainly sets the stage for a good response in the future. Page 1.
A highlight of the annual event is the recognition of outstanding quality and service from the industry. See the winners of the 2018 FDFA Gold Standards Awards on page 1.
Opening the yearly Operator’s Meeting, FDFA President Abe Taqtaq reviewed the past year with a very upbeat assessment and optimistic forecast for the future of the Association. Page 2.
The FDFA’s new Executive Director, Barbara Barrett, had her first opportunity to address the operator members during the Convention, where she spelled out the FDFA’s programs and goals, updating the membership on communications, stakeholder relations, member outreach and government activities. See details on page 3.
Montreal-based Importations Guay Ltee. (IGL) won the Best New Idea Award at the FDFA convention by introducing payment options for its growing base of Chinese customers. Read how the operator instituted WeChat and Alipay and are communicating the news to these customers. Page 3.
TMI will be highlighting other FDFA Gold Standard Award winners in next week’s issue.
AVIATION NEWS
Latin American and Caribbean airports are facing capacity challenges as passenger traffic continues to grow, said Airports Council International and ACI-LAC during a major conference hosted by Miami International Airport this week. TMI was there. Part 1 of coverage begins on page 6.
CRUISE NEWS
 
3Sixty (formerly known as DFASS) has been awarded a 10-year contract for the duty free concession at the International Cruise Terminal in Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico. The new contract is with the ITM Group and 3Sixty and ITM Group have also committed to partner in other destinations/countries and will be rolling out additional duty free/ travel retail stores in the years to come. More details on page 4.
AT THE POINT OF SALE
 
U.S. make-up brand Too Faced debuts in TR at DFS’ New York JFK store in Terminal 4. Page 5.
PEOPLE
Duty free veteran Aude Bourdier has taken a new position, joining Brown-Forman as marketing director for Global Travel Retail and Developed APAC which includes the domestic markets of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. Full story on page 5.