Duty-free event in Singapore

SINGAPORE  The 20th TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference 2015, held in Singapore, drew record attendance from the duty-free and travel retail industry in Asia Pacific.
With occupied exhibition space topping previous years at 9,118 m2 – up 9% on 2014 – and 292 exhibiting companies present (+12%), of which 73 were new to the show, there was a substantial increase of products on display.
Established in 1984, to represent duty-free and travel retailers, TFWA has faced challenges that impacted on travel. In 2014, they included aviation accidents, a new approach to gift giving and luxury consumption among the all-important Chinese travellers, financial instability and political tension in several countries and the resulting slowdown in the growth of air passenger traffic.
Despite setbacks, the show hosted in late May, attracted 2,655 trade visitors about the same as last year. They represented 1,053 companies, up 3% of which more than a third were “key buyers” – duty-free and travel retail operators and landlords from airports, airlines, ferry and cruise companies, cross-border and downtown duty-free stores.
inside no 6TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen said: “This year has not been easy for the industry in this region…so we are really very satisfied with the number of companies present and the quality of the visitors.”
Duty-free & travel retail sales in the Asia Pacific region in 2014 totalled USD23.6 billion, up 5.5% on the previous year, according to provisional figures from independent analysts Generation Research, which ranks the region top in the global industry with 38% of total sales. The second largest region is Europe, followed by Americas, Middle East and Africa.
Comprising a one-day conference, workshops and a three-day exhibition, the event is a meeting point for the region’s industry and efficient networking is essential. The popular ONE2ONE service facilitated over 350 meetings between delegates and the 63 airports and airlines present, and hundreds of other formal and informal meetings took place in and around the show.
Forthcoming events organised by TFWA include TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, 18 to 23 October 2015 in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes and the Middle East & Africa Duty-Free Association Conference 22 to 24 November at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre, Dead Sea, Jordan. Details of these events can be found at www.tfwa.com. (PRNewswire).

sourced:traveldailynews.asia