The Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) has announced today that it is to work closely with international communications agency Hume Brophy on important advocacy issues within the Asia Pacific region.

 

This follows a long period of proven expertise demonstrated by Hume Brophy, which has an excellent reputation in both advising and representing large global companies and industries working in highly-regulated sectors – including transport, financial services and technology.

 

The company also works closely with governments, journalists, the wider media and investors and has proved invaluable in its ongoing work and lobbying on behalf of the duty free and travel retail business – on a global basis in regard to sensitive issues, as well as working alongside the European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC).

 

ADDRESSING THE MAJOR ISSUES…

Commenting on this important development, Jaya Singh, President of APTRA said: “APTRA was founded to nurture and protect the duty free and travel retail industry in the Asia Pacific region.

 

“A vital element of that work is to address – on behalf of our members and hand in hand with our sister organisations – major issues which will have a negative impact on the industry, particularly those which involve detailed liaison with regulatory authorities. In this regard, we will be able to draw on the considerable experience of Hume Brophy.

 

“The members of APTRA have clearly stated that they endorse investment in advocacy to address both immediate and future concerns as part of a long-term strategy and we welcome this collaboration which will help us to hone our arguments and refine our approach.”

 

BUILDING TRUST AND RELATIONSHIPS

As part of this new strategy APTRA will be looking to its new advocacy team to build relationships with Asian regional airport managements at industry events. It will also lobby airports in a new ambassadorial role to help them understand that duty free is a vital revenue source for airports, while also providing support to APTRA as the industry’s regional voice in discussions with legislators.

 

As part of this, the team will also be able to draw upon the Economic Impact Report for Asia Pacific, which the Duty Free World Council will be compiling in partnership with APTRA. This is expected to become a valuable source of the important facts and figures, which will be needed to reinforce and underpin quality dialogue with regulators.

 

The industry and legislators will also be addressed on the unique nature of the duty free and travel retail market and the differences between domestic and duty free retail and why the latter is not normally subject to local laws and regulations.

 

NOW ABLE TO DRAW FAST ON LOCAL RESOURCES…

The new advocacy will also produce policy papers for the industry and help APTRA with the quality co-ordination of the working groups within the various core product categories.

 

Both parties have also agreed that they will also work in close proximity to each other and the markets they serves, with Hume Brophy set to support APTRA from its Asia Pacific hub in Singapore. As such, it will be able to routinely draw upon the full suite of the firm’s established services for clients in the region.

 

In addition, Hume Brophy will also be able to call upon its considerable office resources, which are also located in London, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris, as well as its ‘established network of agency partnerships’ in New York and across Europe and Asia.