The 30th Cannes TFWA World Exhibition & Conference attracted a record 6,701 visitors from 3,105 companies last week (26-31 October), exceeding all expectations.

This compared with 6,303 visitors (+6%) from 2,917 companies (+6 %) in 2013. Within this total, TFWA said that 2,132 visitors – or 32% – were ‘key buyers’ from duty free and travel retail operators and landlords of airports, airlines, ferry, cruise, border and downtown operations.

An additional 4,511 influential trade executives also attended from 1,750 companies in the agency distribution business, with all visitors interacting with the 471 exhibiting companies – 45 of them new or returning after an absence – showcasing thousands of products.

“We are extremely satisfied with the whole event again this year,” commented Erik Juul-Mortensen, TFWA President (pictured, below). “So many of the stands in the exhibition have been outstanding; the content of the conference and workshops was fascinating and instructive; the general ambience has been very positive and the sun has shone done upon us all week.”

He continued: “The excellent visitor figures demonstrate that the duty free and travel retail industry is flourishing which, I hope, justifies my optimism that we will achieve impressive business development in the coming years and, hopefully, another ten-fold increase in global sales over the next three decades.

 

Erik Juul-Mortensen, TFWA President.

 

STRONG CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE
“We will, as always, analyse every aspect of the event and make any changes which are necessary to ensure that TFWA World Exhibition & Conference continues to serve the industry and its members.”

TFWA added that a record 1,351 delegates (+36%) attended the Conference on Monday 27th and heard excellent presentations from Gen. Colin Powell, USA (Ret.) 65th US Secretary of State, Alexandre de Juniac, Chairman & CEO, Air France-KLM and Erik Juul-Mortensen.

The Market Watch: Latin America workshop attracted 135 early-birds, while 75 concerned individuals convened to discuss the threat of counterfeiting to the luxury goods industry; and 167 attended the Airline & Retail: Inflight Focus workshop.

The social events made networking a pleasure and, in some cases, raised vital funds for the charities supported by TFWA Care. The Charity Run on Sunday 26th entered by 152 sporty individuals raised €3,700 ($4,634); while the Golf and Petanque tournaments were oversubscribed and hotly contested.

Over 1,620 guests, plus many of the delegates occupying rooms at the Carlton Hotel, attended the glamorous Welcoming Cocktail on Sunday, with celebratory fireworks courtesy of the City of Cannes. The Scene after-hours venue was packed every evening with energetic dancing and plenty of socialising.

 

 

‘EVERYBODY DANCE’
Le Premium Evening at Port Canto last Thursday also provided the finale to the week, with a live concert by hit seventies disco band Chic fronted by Nile Rodgers and dinner created by the three-star Michelin chef, Regis Marcon.

In the meantime, TFWA says further details of all forthcoming events can be found at www.tfwa.com. These include the MEADFA Conference 24 and 25 November 2014, Dubai; China’s Century Conference 10-12 March 2015, Shanghai; TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference 10-14 May 2015, Singapore; TFWA World Exhibition & Conference 18-23 October 2015, Cannes. TFWA has also asked industry participants to note that TFWA World Exhibition & Conference 2016 will be held in the FIRST week of October (2-7).

Direct links to coverage of the aforementioned speeches at TFWA Conference by TRBusiness reporters as they happened last week can be found below:

http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php/regional/international/16228-former-us-secretary-of-state-colin-powell-we-need-a-free-flow-of-people.html

http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php/regional/europe/16221-air-france-klm-on-arrival-delivery-coming.html

http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php/regional/international/16219-tfwa-conference-part-1-today.html