Tax Free World Association has released final details of the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference and Workshop programme which will launch this month’s travel retail and duty free exhibition in Singapore Suntec Centre (16th-19th May).

The TFWA Asia Pacific Conference, of which the founder sponsor is P&G prestige products, will open on Tuesday 16th May in the Singapore Suntec Centre with a welcome from TFWA CEO Andrew Ford. TFWA President, Erik Juul-Mortensen will open the conference focusing particularly on the effects in the Asia Pacific region of the surge in outbound travel from China, India, Russia and the Middle East.

The keynote speaker will be eminent politician and economist the Rt Hon Mike Moore, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Director General of the World Trade Organisation, who will speak on ‘When Asia Roars’ - the impact of Asia on world trade and specifically the increasing importance of China. Moore’s term at the WTO coincided with momentous changes in the global economy and multilateral trading system, including the successful accession to the WTO of China, Chinese Taipei and eight other countries.

Delegates will have their chance to raise questions in an open session with Mike Moore moderated by Andrew Ford before the Conference is closed by Thom Rankin, TFWA VP.

Speakers for the TFWA Asia Pacific Workshops which follow the conference at 1100 have now been confirmed. In each one the speakers draw from recent original research.

Workshop 1 ‘Targeting the Indian Travel Market’

John Koldowski, Director of the Strategic Intelligence Centre for PATA will analyse the boom in outbound travel from India. Rashmi Varma and Roosevelt D’Souza from ACNielsen India will present ground-breaking data on the Indian traveller’s spending and shopping from the TFWA-ACNielsen Indian Traveller Study.

Rajiv Bhatia, Regional Sales Director of Inver House Distillers Limited, who has developed his company’s brands in the rapidly changing duty free market in India, will contribute his experience.

Moderator: Thom Rankin, TFWA VP.

Workshop 2 ‘Branding in China’

One year on from TFWA’s landmark study of Chinese traveller spending, ACNielsen China Beijing Branch Executive Director Rene Bos draws on fresh research and insights on the Chinese consumer. A highly segmented market, how do luxury brands and travel retailers capture today’s Chinese traveller?

Chris Jaques, Chairman of Young & Rubican Asia, will present case studies of domestic market successes, give insights to the differences between Chinese domestic purchasing and travel purchasing, and examine under-developed brands in travel retail.

Moderator: Andrew Ford, TFWA CEO.

Workshop 3 ‘Emerging Product Categories’

Changes in passenger profiles influence the development of new product categories and are creating challenges for established categories. Peter Harbison, Managing Director of CAPA (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation) will outline the recent history of low cost carriers, analyse their passenger profiles, and predict the future of this industry sector.

Laurence Augoyard, Managing Director of Workshop Fashion Agency will describe the type of products that are gaining interests from international passengers, their countries of origin, and the challenges they are facing breaking into the travel retail market.

Moderator: John Rimmer, DFNI

The new TFWA Asia Pacific Retailer Workshop sponsored by Diageo on Thursday 18th May is causing great excitement.

Retailer Workshop: ‘Travel Retail – Areas of Potential Improvement’

Dr. Peter E. Mohn, Head of R&D and Business Development for P. Robert and Partners SA will present a major study conducted in 28 key global airports on the perception of duty free by the travelling consumer.

In a search for the potential areas of improvement, Colin Hunter and Susy Roberts of Hunter Roberts will outline the major areas of service that international travel expects. Experience will be drawn from the work already conducted by this firm for top retail brands Louis Vuitton and Mulberry. Retailers will be included in a panel to discuss other areas of improvement needed in the retailing of premium brands to the travelling consumers.

Moderator: John Sutcliffe, Managing Director Aer Rianta International Middle East.