Consumer purchasing behaviour by nationality, traffic forecasts, market trends and ongoing comparative analysis of consumer group evolution in recent years will dominate the detailed research programme at the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) through to 2017.

The association says that its forward-looking research plan has been reached by surveying the priorities attached by members to issues/topics and specific markets and the level of investment that should be attached to each project.

Members also indicated ‘categorically in favour’ of retaining the existing research style, which they indicated as ‘hugely valuable’, and even increasing both its scope and the investment level.

APTRA says that this year in addition to the core studies into purchasing (and non-shopping) behaviour of travelling consumers, passenger demographics and travel reasons by market, the association will also tap into m1nd-set’s new ‘mega-insights’ research into current and future travel trends, traffic forecasts and the macro-economic context for each market.

 

10 KEY MARKETS FOR RESEARCH

The association says that ten key markets will now be highlighted within the next two-year research programme. They include: Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand in 2016; China (tier 1 airports), China (tier 2 and 3), South Korea, India and Japan in 2017. These studies will analyse how attitudes and behaviour have changed since those same markets were studied in 2015.

In addition, the annual APTRA Insights Seminars, which APTRA says ‘proved so popular last year’, will also begin in Singapore during the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference on Wednesday 11 May (07.30-09.00) with key results from the latest research. Other locations will be announced soon.

Jaya Singh, President APTRA, commented: “Our members have clearly stated that research is an essential and highly valued element of the service that APTRA provides in the Asia Pacific region.

INFORMATION REMAINS KING…

“The better we understand the macro-economic context in which the duty free and travel retail industry operates, the changing shopping behaviour of our consumers and the way in which the markets are evolving, the closer we will be to providing an irresistible and financially-viable travel retail environment.

Peter Mohn, Owner & CEO at m1nd-set, added: “m1nd-set is very pleased to continue the successful partnership with APTRA. We believe the research themes chosen in recent years and again for the coming two years meet the needs of the industry and the growing APTRA membership very well.

“We have noticed over the years that the members really make good use of the actionable analysis and reports. We are confident that this research will continue to benefit the whole industry in the Asia Pacific region and we at m1nd-set are proud to be able to contribute to this positive development.”