Travel-retail association TFWA has announced the full program for the TFWA Asia Pacific Live networking event, taking place from May 9 to 11 in Singapore.
As reported, last month the association announced that the Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference would not take place in the form of an exhibition this year, as the Covid situation in Asia had made it difficult to secure enough exhibitors.
The new event, called TFWA Asia Pacific Live, will focus on networking with both formal and informal meeting opportunities.
Officially hosted by Singapore’s Changi Airport, the event will take place at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Center. It is also being supported by the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) and the Singapore Tourism Board.
Dufry, Mondelēz and Bacardi-Martini have been named platinum sponsors, while Duty Free Global and Brown-Forman will support the TFWA Asia Pacific Lounge. Lindt will sponsor the coffee break.
Meanwhile, Les Chocolats de Pauline, Leonidas, iClick Interactive and Imperial Tobacco will support the One2One meeting service. Additionally, pre-registered buyers, landlords and retailers have committed to the event, including Dufry, Heinemann Asia Pacific, Lotte Duty Free Oceania and Malaysia Airports.
Workshop line-up
The event will host six workshops on May 10 and May 11.
The Opening Plenary Session taking place on May 10 from 9am to 10:30am, will feature an address from TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen and APTRA President Sunil Tuli. It will also include a talk led by big data and artificial intelligence (AI) expert Dr. Ayesha Khanna. Dr. Khanna will discuss how new technologies and consumption habits are changing the way brands are bought and sold.
Later that same day, from 2pm to 3pm, a Focus on India workshop will highlight one of Asia’s biggest markets which is expected to play a large part in the recovery of the region, claims TFWA. Speakers will include Delhi Duty Free CEO Ashish Chopra and Bangalore International Airport Ltd Assistant VP Commercial Development Pravat Kumar Paikray.
The last workshop of the day, the APTRA Exchange, will allow APTRA members and their business partners will update each other on the current status of the duty-free and travel-retail industry in Asia Pacific, focusing on travel trends and regulatory issues. The session will run from 4pm to 6pm. Speakers will be announced soon.
On May 11, the first workshop, entitled State of the travel market in Asia Pacific, will feature Pedro Castro, Chief Operating Officer of Dufry Group Asia Pacific, Sarah Matthews, Group Head of Destination Marketing APEC at Tripadvisor, Ilia Lioutov, Senior Expert at Airport Economics and ESG ACI Asia-Pacific and Jason Cao, Founder of Duty Free Expert and General Manager of Amberich International HK Ltd. The session will look at retail, tourism and traffic trends in Asia Pacific, along with emerging destinations and traveler preferences.
A discussion on Sustainable Futures will run from 2pm to 3:30pm and will draw on a recent consumer study by travel research consultancy m1nd-set and explore what sustainability means for shoppers across the region. It will include commentary from brands and retailers on how they are adapting their business models to meet consumers and business partners expectations.
The last workshop, Digital Transformation in Southeast Asia, will be headed by Dhruv Vohra, Regional Director at Meta Southeast Asia and Praneeth Yendamuri, partner at Bain & Company. The session will draw on their combined report, “Southeast Asia, the home for digital transformation.” The speakers will share insights on how migration from offline to online will shape consumers’ lifestyles in post-pandemic Asia and how brands and consumers will interact in the future.
Between the workshops delegates are encouraged to hold face-to-face, formal meetings using the TFWA One2One meeting facilities. Additionally, dedicated areas at the event will be reserved for brands to have face-to-face meetings.
Online registration for the TFWA Asia Pacific Live networking event is now open. To register, delegates can email visitors@tfwa.com.