Last updated: Tuesday April 18, 1:58 p.m. Find updates below.
IAADFS Chairman Rene Riedi
Tuesday, April 18 - 8:10 a.m.: Regional Recovery, Global Context session
The first education session of day two kicked off early this morning following a quick greeting from IAADFS Chairman Rene Riedi.
The Regional Recovery, Global Context session, moderated by Tax Free World Association Managing Director John Rimmer, focused on the regional challenges and opportunities facing the Americas duty free and travel retail industry and global issues that impact the region, including important advocacy issues. The panel of speakers included Tania Lee, Vice President of Sales, Blue Water Bridge Duty Free, and President, Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA); Barbara Barrett, Executive Director, FDFA; Cyril Letocart, CEO, Lagardere Travel Retail Peru; and Cameron Gray, Managing Director, Penta Group.
From left to right: Tania Lee, Vice President of Sales, Blue Water Bridge Duty Free, and President, Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA); Barbara Barrett, Executive Director, FDFA; Cyril Letocart, CEO, Lagardere Travel Retail Peru; Cameron Gray, Managing Director, Penta Group; and moderator John Rimmer, Managing Editor, Tax Free World Association
John Rimmer, Managing Director, Tax Free World Association
Lee and Barrett started the session with a look at the FDFA's mission to reopen U.S.-Canada land borders through the pandemic.
As Barrett highlighted, this border is the longest, unprotected international border in the world at 5,525 miles with 120 crossing checkpoints. The Association was at the forefront of getting Canada’s land borders reopened through its dedicated advocacy work and with the support of politicians on both sides of the border, the media and social media.
Barbara Barrett, Executive Director, FDFA
FDFA formed alliances with other tourism associations to advocate for the reopening leading to the passing of Bill C-2 through the creation of the Coalition of the Hardest Hit Businesses. Barrett noted lessons learned from the Association's work: it is necessary to have an advocacy plan, the importance of leveraging the media and social media, it is critical to seek like-minded allies to make the group voice louder and stronger. She also highlighted how the pandemic also proved the industry's mightiness in Canada.
"Duty free industry is strong and resilient," she said.
Tania Lee, Vice President of Sales, Blue Water Bridge Duty Free, and President, FDFA
After looking back, Lee also discussed future opportunities, including the need to get people back to their regular travel habits following the major disruption caused by the pandemic.
"Thank you for letting us tell our Canadian story," Lee said.
Cyril Letocart, CEO, Lagardère Travel Retail Peru
Next, Lagardère Travel Retail Peru CEO Cyril Letocart discussed the retailer's "quick growth in Latin America," reminding the audience that the region has the strongest traffic recovery of any.
The retailer opened in two countries during COVID, Peru and Chile. There were only 10 employees in September 2021, but by the end of 2022, there were a total of 400 employees in Peru and Chile. There are now 13 shops and restaurants, and more than 4,000 square meters of duty free and F&B units.
Letocart told the audience, "Recovery is here. There is huge potential for Latin America."
In the pipeline for 2023 are 12 F&B units in Chile, plus 4,000 square meters of additional duty free and duty paid shops in Lima international Airport's new terminal to come by 2025.
Cameron Gray, Managing Director, Penta Group
Penta Group's Cameron Gray discussed the company's campaign against illicit trade and ensuring that illicit trade cannot get a foothold in travel retail. Gray said there is still ongoing need to rebut inaccurate accusations of the duty free industry.
Tuesday, April 18 - 1:20 p.m.: Session on Building a Resilient, Sustainable Future
In the early afternoon IAADFS Chairman Rene Riedi introduced the Building a Resilient, Sustainable Future session.
The panelists and moderators for the Building a Resilient, Sustainable Future afternoon session, from left to right: Matthew Greenbaum, Erasmo Orillac, Jim DeCock, Andrew Weddig and Dermot Davitt
"Good afternoon and welcome to this last session. In some key areas, business is not back to where it was. The pandemic has brought many short- and long-term changes, which the panel which discuss over the next 60 minutes," Riedi said.
IAADFS Chairman Rene Riedi
This panel follows up on last year’s sustainability session, which like this year, was organized by The Moodie Davitt Report and Airport Restaurant and Retail Association (ARRA).
The session was moderated by Dermot Davitt, President, The Moodie Davitt Report, and panelists included Matthew Greenbaum, Director, International Shoppes; Erasmo Orillac, CEO, Motta Internacional, SA; Jim DeCock, J DeCock Consulting; and Andrew Weddig, Executive Director, ARRA.
Weddig kicked off the discussion highlighting that many things have changed from this year's discussion vs. last year, but some things — including some of the slideshow content — is very much the same. The theme was maintained throughout: the international aviation ecosystem has recovered rapidly over the past year, but in some key respects business is not back to normal. The discussion looked at passenger volumes, breakeven cash flows, accumulated debt, labor challenges, continuing airline disruptions, high inflation and ways to evolve the airport concessionaire business framework to support a sustainable, resilient and equitable future for the industry.
Tuesday, April 18 - 9:00 am - 6:00 pm: Exhibits and Meeting Rooms Open
See our day two coverage of some exhibitor booths below, with more to come.
