AVOLTA, DUBAI DUTY FREE, MONDELEZ AND NESTLE CONFIRMED AS GOLD PARTNERS FOR APTRA INDIA 2024 CONFERENCE

Singapore and Delhi 10 January 2024 In the week Travel Retail gets fully back to business after the holiday season, several leading companies have confirmed their partnership with the APTRA India 2024 conference in Delhi, 20-21 March 2024.

Having recently announced Delhi Duty Free Services as Platinum Host Partner, the growing list of partners has expanded and APTRA is pleased to reveal the first four Gold Partners as Avolta, Dubai Duty Free, Mondelez and Nestle, all confirmed as supporters of APTRA’s first major conference initiative. Agreements are also being finalized with several other partners, to be announced in the coming days.

The developing line-up of speakers includes several senior retail executives: Ashish Chopra of Delhi Duty Free Services, Ramesh Cidambi, the Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Duty Free, Vijay Talwar, Chief Commercial Officer of Avolta, and Sunil Tuli, Chief Executive Officer of King Power Group (Hong Kong) and President of APTRA.

The conference programme contains two major strands of strategic focus; firstly, the Travel Retail opportunity within India’s surging growth in aviation and, secondly, the rise of the Indian consumer. Within each strand there will be detailed analysis of core product categories and the role of key industry dynamics including omnichannel and sustainability.

The first strategic focus explores in depth the opportunity for Travel Retail within ‘Vision 2040’, the Indian government’s multi-faceted roadmap, that includes ambitions for aviation infrastructure investment and airport expansion to rival key hubs in the GCC.

APTRA believes there is an extraordinary opportunity for India as a primary leader in ‘Next Generation Travel Retail’, as demonstrated at the recently opened Bengaluru International T2. Added to that is the potential presented by nine greenfield airports, including Goa and Noida – the second airport for Delhi, located 75km from the capital. By 2040 the country expects to have15 dual-airport cities and there is the potential for a third airport for Mumbai.

According to IATA, India is the number 3 domestic aviation market by volume and is on track to be the third-largest overall by 2026. Four new airports and four new terminals have opened in the past year and there are now 149 operational civil airports, twice the number of 10 years ago.

The second strategic focus is the Indian consumer. With a rising passion for international travel amongst the population there are several key demographics to explore. Home to over 910 million Millennials and Gen Z – the world’s largest community – with a median age of 28, they present one of the strongest long-term growth opportunities in Travel Retail globally. Added to that cohort are visitors from the diaspora of OCIs (a population of 6 million people with overseas citizenship of India).

The Indian traveller demographic is also surging in importance in other key travel retail markets. From the developing middle classes taking vacations in Thailand and Singapore to the blue collar workers travelling between the GCC and home, the combination of the rapidly evolving profile of Indian consumers and the country’s democratic dividend is a driving force in shaping Travel Retail.

Sunil Tuli comments. “We are delighted by the support from so many organisations for the APTRA India 2024 Conference, sharing our belief in the unparalleled opportunity for Travel Retail in India. At its conference in October 2023, the Federation of Associations in India Tourism and Hospitality reported that the country’s tourist industry is set to deliver US$3trillion in GDP by 2047, with 100 million foreign tourist arrivals, 20 billion domestic tourism visits and more than 200 million direct and indirect tourism-driven jobs. The astonishing scale of India’s forecast growth in tourism is complemented by the ambition of the Indian government to deliver the supporting aviation infrastructure, creating a unique incentive for delegates to ensure that India is a priority in their business planning.”

The APTRA India 2024 conference takes place on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 March 2024 at the Pullman Hotel in Aerocity, Delhi preceded by an opening cocktail reception on the evening of Tuesday 19 March 2024.

Sponsorship and exhibition packages are available from Anne Kavanagh, Executive Director, APTRA by email at [email protected]

Registration is now open at US$600 per delegate via Sharolyn Paul, [email protected]

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