APTRA Announces Details Of Networking Lunch And APTRA Exchange During TFWA Singapore 2023

SINGAPORE 28 MARCH 2023

With just 6 weeks to go until TFWA Asia Pacific in Singapore, APTRA is looking forward to welcoming its members and the wider travel industry to its home city of Singapore during the TFWA Asia Pacific conference and exhibition.

Sunil Tuli, President of APTRA comments, “With the entire industry getting back together in person for the first time in four years, APTRA will be hosting two fantastic events for industry colleagues to connect and network at an APTRA Networking Lunch on Sunday 7 May and at the APTRA Exchange on Monday 8 May, where a stellar line-up of experts will share strategies on optimising this new era of travel retail. We hope to see many APTRA members and extend our welcome to anyone in the industry to join us at these events. APTRA will also be supporting The Moodie Davitt Report’s Smile Raising dinner on 6 May in aid of Smile Train, a life-changing, international cleft charity.

“Although we initially expected Asia Pacific to be the first region to return to trading when the pandemic started, it ended up having the longest and toughest of restrictions. However, travel retail in Asia Pacific is now back and accelerating towards a full recovery, APTRA is welcoming new members every month and we are excited to be ramping up our programmes of networking and connection, research and knowledge, alongside our continual monitoring and action on advocacy and regulation.”

The APTRA events in Singapore in May are as follows:

APTRA Networking Lunch
Date & Time: Sunday 7 May 2023 @ 12.30 – 3.30pm
Venue: The Tanglin Club, Raffles Ballroom, Level 2 – Main Clubhouse
5 Stevens Road, Singapore 257814
Cost: US$100 per head

Before the business of the week gets underway, APTRA and Changi Airport Group are hosting a relaxed, convivial buffet lunch in the Raffles Room at the Tanglin Club, located in central Singapore and just a 10 minute drive from Marina Bay Sands. The event is open to APTRA members and non-members.

A chance to catch up with old friends and make new connections, travel retail’s own global DJ, Miami-based Denz Devarez, aka Denz Van Der List, of Go Travel, will be playing a suitably chilled DJ set to ease us through the afternoon, following his guest appearance on Saturday night at Bayside Drinks & Eats, one of Singapore’s top nightspots in Clarke Quay.

There will be plenty of time for guests to get back from the APTRA Lunch for the TFWA Welcome Cocktail at The Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay, starting at 7.30pm.

Numbers are limited to around 100 and the ticket price of US$100 will include food and drinks and will cover APTRA costs, as this is a non-profit event. Sponsors will be announced in the coming days. Registration is essential to Sharolyn Paul, APTRA Administrative Officer, [email protected]

APTRA Exchange
Date & Time: Monday 8 May 2023 @ 2.30 – 4.00pm
Venue: Grand Ballroom, Level 5, Marina Bay Sands

The APTRA Exchange seminar will bring together three speakers to present a future-forward perspective of the opportunities ahead in Asia Pacific, together three speakers who will present a future-forward perspective of the opportunities ahead in Asia Pacific, now that the region has fully re-opened and the industry is on a trajectory to full recovery.

We are honoured to have an eminent keynote speaker lead the session, with Simon Baptist, Global Chief Economist of the Economist Intelligence Unit, presenting a deep dive into post-covid China as part of his detailed economics analysis. Simon is in huge demand as a speaker around the world and this is a session not to miss.

Marina Giuliano, VP of Brands, Retailers and Media at ForwardKeys will provide a focus on how the return of Chinese travellers and the acceleration in the number of Indian travellers will shape the passenger mix in the year ahead.

Finally, APTRA is delighted to partner with Stephen Hillam, Managing Director of Pi Insight to present the case for creating an APTRA Index to help the industry understand duty free performance and value, following the success of the ETRC Index.

Recession averted? Economic and business outlook for 2024 and beyond
Simon Baptist, Global Chief Economist, Economist Intelligence Unit

Session overview:
Business conditions in 2023 are set to be much brighter than expected just a few months ago. With the energy crisis in Europe abating and China’s dramatic exit from zero-covid, fewer economies will face recession. Have we finally reached the inflationary peak? What is the post-covid outlook for the rise of the middle class, fuel costs, financing costs and currencies? China is certainly bustling back to business, but how sustainable will this be, and how will the policy priorities from the recent ‘two sessions’ meetings play out? What is the pathway to make the most of the evolving Chinese consumer? Will new growth markets thrive despite the continued tightening of global finances and weaker global growth, and where are the biggest opportunities over the next years and decades?

About Simon Baptist
Simon Baptist is the Global Chief Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit and is currently based in Singapore. He is also the Managing Director for The EIU in Asia, with oversight for The EIU’s research, consultancy and C-suite advisory services in the region. Simon has a doctorate in economics from and was a lecturer at Oxford University, along with degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania. His academic research investigated technology and the determinants of productivity in manufacturing firms. He has published a number of academic articles, including in World Development, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A and Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies. He is frequently invited to participate on TV and in other international media.
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The State of Play of Travel Retail in Q2 and Beyond
Marina Giuliano, VP of Brands, Retailers and Media, ForwardKeys

Session overview:
Uncover what’s on the cards for the travel retail sector in terms of international departures and key airports in Q2. What role will Chinese and Indian travellers play?

About Marina Giuliano
With nearly 20 years’ experience in the tourism industry, Marina Giuliano enjoys applying insights and knowledge to global luxury brands and retailers in different categories, including beauty and fashion. She has worked with some of the major players in Retail and Travel Retail, such as L’Oréal and LVMH, to help them capture the right consumers and promote their sustainable growth. Sustainability is an area of interest and Marina looks forward to seeing more of it in the Travel Retail world.
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Introducing the APTRA Index
Stephen Hillam, Managing Director Pi Insight

Session overview:
The session will provide an overview of a new ‘APTRA Index’ initiative that APTRA is currently working to develop. The Index will be designed to provide an ongoing monitoring service to track the performance of the Asia Pacific airport Duty Free sector, with the session introducing the initiative and providing information on the methodology, scope and benefits of having an anonymised Index developed for the Asia Pacific region similar to the ETRC Index.

About Stephen:
Having previously held senior positions at leading Travel Retail industry consultancies, Stephen Hillam founded Pi Insight in early 2019 to provide research, insight & data solutions to the Travel Retail industry. At Pi Insight, Stephen leads a team of experienced Travel Retail insight specialists. With extensive experience of multiple research and data processing techniques, Pi Insight work with global brand, retailers and industry associations, delivering useable insight and clear strategic direction across a wide range of industry themes. Stephen holds degrees from the universities of Hull and Northampton in the UK, and in addition to Travel Retail, specialises in packaging development and sustainability.

ENDS

www.aptra.asia
MEDIA ENQUIRIES: [email protected]

APTRA (the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association) is a non-profit membership organisation whose purpose is to strengthen, nurture & protect the duty free and travel retail industry in the Asia Pacific region. APTRA’s membership comprises landlords, retailers, food & beverage operators and brands, a base which is unique and adds richness to the association’s work. APTRA’s territory spans over 45 countries in Asia Pacific.

APTRA strengthens the knowledge base of the industry by supporting members with meaningful research, knowledge sharing, networking opportunities and advocating for the industry when facing regulatory challenges. Commissioning relevant market research is one of the quality outputs of APTRA, the results of which are disseminated exclusively to members through private seminars, networking workshops and the Association website.