APTRA announces date of May AGM and board elections
APTRA will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and board elections online on May 3 (3:00-4:30pm Singapore/Hong Kong), when the two-year tenure of its current board comes to an end. The entire board of directors are standing for re-election for a further term along with four additional candidates. Each board position is held by a member organization represented by an individual from that organization.
The candidates are as follows:
Retailers
Delhi Duty Free Services – Nuno Amaral, Director (current APTRA board member)
Dufry – Freda Cheung, President & CEO APAC (new candidate)
Heinemann – Rhoda Severino, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs (new candidate)
King Power Group Hong Kong – Sunil Tuli, Group CEO (current APTRA board member & President)
Airports
Auckland International Airport – Lucy Thomas, Head of Retail (current APTRA board member)
Changi Airport Group – Teo Chew Hoon, Managing Director Airside Concessions (current APTRA board member)
Kansai Airports – Stephane Geffroy, Chief Commercial Officer (current APTRA board member)
Associations
Australia Duty Free Association – Steve Timms, Chairperson (current APTRA board member)
TFWA – Erik Juul-Mortensen, President (current APTRA board member)
Brands
Chanel – Hervé Ducros, Director Global Travel Retail (current APTRA board member)
CVH Spirits (formerly Distell) – Luke Maga, Managing Director, Travel Retail (current APTRA board member)
Estee Lauder – Karen Housman, Senior VP/GM Travel Retail APAC (new candidate)
JT International – Pan Har Ying, Corporate Affairs & Communications Manager (current APTRA board member & Treasurer)
Lacoste – Erin Lillis – Travel Retail Director (current APTRA board member & Secretary)
Lindt & Sprüngli – Susana Hueso – Head of APAC Travel retail (current APTRA board member)
Pernod Ricard – Simon Van Moppes – Managing Director, North Asia (new candidate)
The board elections will be held online and each APTRA member organization can cast a total of 12 votes across all categories of their choice. The 12 candidates with the highest number of votes will become the new APTRA board for the period 2023-2025 and the APTRA President, Treasurer & Secretary will be elected by the newly formed board.
“It is my honor and privilege to serve as APTRA’s President. The current APTRA board is an exceptional group of travel retail professionals, representing their member organization. We are extremely fortunate to have access to some of the finest professionals in travel retail and I would like to thank them for their dedication, support and strategic input in helping create one of the strongest teams APTRA has had in its 18 years, despite the challenges of the pandemic and the additional strain these individuals and their businesses have been under."
“Special thanks to APTRA Treasurer, Pan Har Ying, Corporate Affairs & Communications Manager, Global Travel Retail at JTI for her unwavering diligence in managing our financial reporting; APTRA Secretary, Erin Lillis, Travel Retail Director Asia Pacific at Lacoste who has maintained her commitment to APTRA despite challenging circumstances; APTRA Alcohol Working Group head, Luke Maga, Head of Europe & Global Travel Retail - Commercial CVH Spirits (formerly Distell), for his strategic advice on many regulatory issues; Nuno Amaral, Director, Delhi Duty Free Services and Lucy Thomas, Retail Director of Auckland International Airport for their insights on sustainability in helping form and run the APTRA Sustainability Committee.
“In addition my thanks for their time and strategic input to Hervé Ducros, Global Travel Retail Director, Chanel; Stephane Geffroy, Corporate EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, Kansai Airports; Susana Hueso, Head of Duty Free Asia Pacific Lindt & Sprüngli; Erik Juul-Mortensen, President TFWA; Teo Chew Hoon, Managing Director Airside Concessions, Changi Airport Group; Steve Timms, CEO & Director Lotte Oceania and President Australia Duty Free Association.
“Finally, I would like to recognize APTRA’s Executive Director, Anne Kavanagh for her excellent management of APTRA operations and strategic focus since she took over the role in April 2022 and the delivery of our services in Advocacy & Regulation, Knowledge Sharing & research, Networking & Connection. Anne is supported by Sharolyn Paul, Administrative Officer and I thank her for continued service since 2015.
“This is arguably the most intricate and complex of all regions in the travel retail industry. We rely on membership as the association’s primary source of income and we are extremely grateful to our members for their continued support.
“With over 45 markets spanning a vast geography, Asia Pacific is a hugely diverse region of economies at different stages of development, many of them undergoing huge growth in their middle classes. While these are attractive dynamics for brand building and business development in GTR, the fragmented, highly regulated and sometimes unpredictable nature of the region, can present challenges for the industry to navigate national policies while maintaining the unique characteristics of Travel Retail.
“Throughout the challenging trading circumstances of 2022, APTRA supported the Travel Retail industry as several markets gradually re-opened for business following the pandemic, while other major markets, notably China, remained closed to international travel. Despite a faster return to business in other regions, Asia Pacific was constrained for far longer due to lengthier lockdowns and border restrictions. APTRA continued to deliver valuable strategies to support industry resilience and to advocate for travel retail with governments across Asia Pacific, leading 13 initiatives between January 2022-May 2023, the most active regulatory landscape since APTRA was created in 2005,” comments Sunil Tuli, President of APTRA & Group CEO King Power Group (Hong Kong).
