“Is the single market fragmenting duty free and travel retail?” was the question addressed through a number of insightful presentations, last Thursday, at the annual ETRC Business Forum event.

 

Topics such as Air Passenger Rights, tobacco retailing, product labelling, and communication to consumers in travel retail were also addressed through informative presentations and Q&A sessions.

 

Over 75 member companies and representatives from national and regional associations were represented at the annual ETRC Business Forum, which took place on Thursday 22 January 2015 at the Brussels Airport Sheraton Hotel.

 

Above: ETRC President Sarah Branquinho speaking at the ACI conference in Zurich in 2014.

 

The strong member participation contributed to lively discussions on the state of the industry, and examined challenges to the duty free and travel retail industry both today and in the future.

 

“Faced with increasing demands to provide information to the consumer in prescribed languages and with specific technical requirements, our pan-European business faces complications which, if unresolved, will lead to a reduction in consumer choice – the antithesis of the objectives of the EU,” said the ETRC in a statement released today.

 

‘LARGEST NUMBER OF ATTENDEES TO DATE’

ETRC was particularly pleased to welcome key note speaker Emmanuelle Maire, Head of Unit Internal Market and Airports from the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), European Commission, who spoke at length about the key challenges for the European aviation market, supported by some fascinating statistics.

 

Ms Maire was keen to gain a better understanding of the importance of airport retailing as a contributor to airport revenues, and participated in the lively Q & A session that followed the presentation of the ETRC Index for 2014.

 

Speaking on the success of the day, ETRC President Sarah Branquinho commented; “ETRC relies on the active participation of its members and is delighted that the Business Forum 2015 attracted the largest number of attendees to date.

 

“Although our industry continues to face challenges, it is heartening to see the level of participation demonstrated by our members who clearly recognise the need to be pro-active in developing appropriate and innovative solutions to meet regulatory demands.

 

“ETRC looks forward to another successful year working with our members to advance the interests of the duty free and travel retail industry and to drive growth. ”