The Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) has confirmed that its planned road show will now go ahead slightly later than originally announced, in November.

 

Aimed at bringing more in-depth knowledge from consumer research to members and the broader duty free and travel retail industry, the tour participants include financial and management consultancy, KPMG, and Switzerland-based research house, m1nd-set.

 

The six-destination road show will be stopping in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, China and Hong Kong. “We are starting with these markets but this is not going to be a one-off thing, although obviously we have budget constraints,” APTRA President Jaya Singh (below left) tells TRBusiness.

 

“The seminar tour will discuss the issues facing the industry and present research data,” he adds. “Among the topics will be customs duties structures and tobacco allowances. KPMG will focus on issues to do with tax.”

 

On the research front, APTRA’s industry component is being done by Sweden’s Generation Research while the consumer side is handled by m1nd-set. “We initiated this two years ago and are continuing this year with regular consumer insights; the most recent is on the Chinese traveller which was posted in the association’s August newsletter,” says Singh.

 

The Chinese consumer work is not a tactical stand-alone project. “In APTRA we have a research committee tasked with identifying the most pertinent topics for members. We continue to look at those areas before road-mapping them,” comments Singh.

 

In tandem with that work, the association is building a database of airport authorities and brand-owners, “the go-to people” as Singh calls them, which he believes is another value-added service for members.

 

APTRA has increased its membership tally from 60-65 in 2010 to 96 currently, and hopes that November’s road show and its content will encourage more companies to join, especially airport authorities.

 

The tobacco issue in Australasia will be a hot topic, especially as the large allowance reduction in Australian has had a dramatic effect on sales. “We need APTRA’s voice at the table during any legislative process that affects our industry rather than be told ‘this is how it is going to be’ without any input. This is pertinent now because New Zealand is considering a similar initiative,” says Singh.