For further info and to book please visit: http://www.pps-events.com/monaco/

Some great topics and excellent speakers have already been recruited for next February's ACI Europe 2007 Trading Conference at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, titled ‘Airport Trading in an Increasingly Challenging Environment’.

Scheduled to take place between February 19 to 21 the actual conference event kicks off on Tuesday 20 with an opening session called: ‘Is the future of airport retail fragile?’ at which several important questions will be addressed by Frank O?Connell, President of the European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) and Director of Retail at Dublin Airport Authority. These will include:
1. Will the Europe-US sealed bag regime be adopted as an ICAO Recommendation?
2. What is the lobbying strategy for this?
3. Is there a danger that consumer confidence will be permanently damaged if it is not?

A similar theme continues with second speaker, when Enzo Casati, Managing Director Business Unit International – Campari International S.A.M. will address the following:

1. Are the major supplier brands concerned about their future in travel retail?
2. How have the suppliers been impacted since last August?s terror threats?
3. How will it affect their long-term strategy to trade ahead of passenger growth?

Then in a major coup, ACI Europe has also been able to recruit Robert Missen, Deputy Head of Unit, Aviation Security, DG TREN from the European Commission who will respond to the following questions:

1. Is the European Commission satisfied with the security regulations in place since 6 November 2006?
2. What, if any, changes does the EC foresee being implemented at the first six-month review in April 2007?
3. In what extraordinary circumstances might it expect an outright ban on future airside liquid sales?

The first working session will then address the subject of ‘The very real business challenge of security’. Moderated by John Hume, Director, Hume Brophy Communications, this look at the following issues:

1. Have sales re-stabilised since the implementation of the November 6 security measures?
2. How do sales post the implementation of the November 6 security measures compare to sales directly after the August UK terror threat?
3. What future security restrictions should airports and retailers be preparing themselves for?
4. Could the industry survive an outright ban on airside liquid sales?
5. Are the airport retail and security managers working together successfully?
6. Should there be relief on minimum annual guarantees when there are events beyond industry control?
7. Is there a superior system to the sealed bags system?
8. What technologies and screening equipment are being developed to deal with the liquid threat and what are the expected timescales for implementation?

Confirmed participants in this session include: Doug Benham, Associate Director, Macquarie Airports; Bart Mos, Corporate Security Adviser, Schiphol Group; Frank O'Connell, President European Travel Retail Council, Commercial Director Dublin Airport Authority; and two others to be confirmed.

The second working session will then address the question of what are the most effective strategies for educating passengers on security restrictions and maintaining customer confidence.

Moderated by Doug Newhouse, Managing Editor of The Travel Retail Business, this will comprise three presentations, with one speaker still awaiting confirmation. The first will feature Alpha Airports Group Ceo Peter Williams, who will address the following questions: Are passengers confused by the security restrictions and what has Alpha done in and around its stores to restore customer confidence?

Also in this session, Thomas Sevcik, Ceo, Arthesia will pose the question: What kind of conventional as well as atypical communication instruments could restore customer confidence and ensure travellers spending habits are unaffected?

The third working session of the day will then look at the ‘Medium and long term outlook – beyond November 6; what are the future opportunities for the airport retail travel industry?

Richard Carr, Retail Business Manager at Virgin Atlantic Airways will talk about ‘What travellers really want to buy: a journey into the future’; while Peter Eriksson, Head of Marketing & Real Estate Unique Zurich Airport (and Chairman ACI Europe Commercial Forum) will talk about positive signs that Swiss airports have won the right to open arrival duty free stores.
He will also ask the fundamental question of whether it doesn't make perfect sense for EU airports to be afforded the same rights, given the unique restrictions they have on their trade security issue?

Another subject in this session will cover whether Collection on Return could be a simple, effective, and possibly badly-overlooked strategy for solving liquid quantity limits and transit rulings? Could customers be encouraged to widely-adopt it, or is it a big turn-off? (High level speaker to be confirmed).

Finally, Michel Perol, Chairman and Ceo of French travel retail giant Aelia will address the following: ‘Airport retail is not a dying market – what are the future opportunities for the Airport Retail Industry?’

On Wednesday February 21 the conference will move into a different theme, with the fourth working session entitled: ‘Retail development and terminal design – The optimistic future of airport retailing’, with session Chairman Peter Poungias, Director, Commercial and Property Activities, Hochtief Airport GmbH.

BAA Group Retail Strategy Director and Retail Director T5, Nick Ziebland will present a case study, followed by a senior director of Hamburg Airport who detail the thinking behind Hamburg Airport's smart new Shopping Plaza. Two other presentations are still being finalised for this session.

The fifth and final working session will address the following fundamentally important issues of ‘How can we increase airport sales and create a memorable consumer experience?’

Under the watchful moderation of George Wallace, Ceo, Management Horizons Europe, each senior airport or retailer participant will be given a five-minute platform to voice their perspectives, followed by a panel discussion across the board.

Confirmed participants to date include: Gunnar Heinemann, Co-Owner, Gebr. Heinemann; Pascal Bourgue, Marketing, Retail and Communications Director, A?roports de Paris; and three other very senior individuals.

The Travel Retail Business would like to add that is very proud to be an official supporting partner of this event.