The Duty Free World Council held its AGM and board meeting during the recent TFWA event in Cannes and passed some important resolutions.

 

In a statement, the DFWC says it has reviewed its progress to date with establishing an industry database, alongside the production of a study on the economic impact of duty free and travel retail – initially on the European region.

 

As also reported in the TRBusiness’ earlier in-depth video interview with DFWC President Frank O’Connell, the first pillars of an industry library and resource centre have also been built at DFWC’s Paris offices and the association is now welcoming contributions of relevant research reports, books and papers.

 

Frank O’Connell tells TRBusiness’ Doug Newhouse that the DFWC is ultimately going to need funding of ‘between £250,000 to £400,000’ to achieve everything it currently has on its new packed agenda.

 

FRANK O’CONNELL ON FILM…

This video can be found at the link at the end of the next paragraph, where O’Connell talks in detail about establishing industry-wide and non-industry credibility for the Council; promoting its ambitions and its modus operandi as to how it will work alongside industry associations to both promote and protect the global duty free channel.

 

O’Connell is also questioned at length on funding by Editor Newhouse and responds in characteristic transparent fashion in a very interesting and informative interview. The video link is: http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php/regional/international/16275-video-interview-frank-oconnell.html].

 

He told Newhouse: “Association work costs money and there is no way around that and it doesn’t happen for nothing. At this stage the Council has a modest budget based on the regional associations paying a membership fee.”  He added that the overall budget for the association at present is in the order of £70,000 or £80,000, but when asked if this is going to be enough, O’Connell replied: “No it isn’t… there is no question of that.”

 

Asked what would be, O’Connell said that to do all the things that the DFWC is talking about will cost somewhere ‘between £250,000 to £400,000’. But he said the real challenge here is how to generate such an amount because it is simply not realistic to expect non profit making regional associations to come up with this sort of money.

 

O’Connell said he is very encouraged by the widespread support for the DFWC since it was ‘born again’ earlier this year. [TRBusiness will also be supporting this initiative in whatever way it can in future-Ed].

 

ACADEMIC EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRY BASE

As also reported in the TRBusiness interview with O’Connell, the DFWC statement says it is also actively exploring the possibilities of establishing a Duty Free and Travel Retail Academy to promote education standards and training for the industry – having already set up a Working Group drawn from within the industry to begin shaping this exciting project. Christine Martin of TRT has kindly offered to chair this group.

 

At the Cannes meeting the DFWC also agreed on a definition of duty free and travel retail for use by the industry in its discussions with governments and other regulatory authorities.

 

Commenting, DFWC President Frank O’Connell said: “I’m extremely encouraged by the positive discussions we held in Cannes, which confirmed the industry-wide support for the DFWC since its formal establishment earlier this year.

 

O’Connell said it is crucially important to be able to tell politicians what the industry is worth, how many people work in it and what the industry contributes to economies and employment.

 

IMPORTANT OBJECTIVES

“The industry database and Economic Impact Study are both taking shape and will, in time, help us ensure that duty free & travel retail is perceived for what it is – an essential generator of revenue for the aviation and travel industries. My colleagues and I within the DFWC also feel that helping maintain high training standards within the industry is an important objective for the Council.

 

“We look forward to hearing from the Working Group appointed to explore the setting up of a Duty Free and Travel Retail Academy and are confident that the project will prove to be of real benefit to our industry.”

 

Any industry bodies who would like to donate research or any relevant industry materials to the DFWC database, or would simply like further information on the Council’s activities can contact Kshitij Goyal at [email protected].

 

TOP IMAGE: All the President’s men (and women) from the regional associations – all well known executives and all volunteers – met with each other at the Duty Free World Council AGM/board meeting in Cannes recently.