Speakers at the TR Consumer Forum 2022 are poised to deliver a masterclass in catering to evolving consumer needs at the travel retail industry’s only consumer-centric conference, which is taking place at the Parklane, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Limassol from 4-6 September, 2022.

The global conference agenda for the event, organised by TRBusiness and m1nd-set, features an impressive line-up of thought leaders and decision makers, who will be taking to the stage to share their knowledge and expertise.

Almost each session throughout the two-day conference will include members of the m1nd-set senior management team – Peter Mohn, CEO & Owner, Anna Marchesini, Head of Business Development and Clara Susset, COO – who will share exclusive shopper insights on each session theme gleaned from research worth six figures in value, in order to kick-start discussions with the panellists.

“During all the briefing discussions with speakers on the content and suggested approach to their sessions, there hasn’t been a single speaker who has not underlined the importance of the topics we are addressing at this event, or the need for such an insights-driven consumer-focused conference,” said Michael Barrett, Head of Events and Corporate Social Responsibility at TRBusiness.

“As with our TR Sustainability Forum events, the in-person events, the webinars and the Sustainability Week, there is a huge amount of goodwill and desire to share best practices.

“The altruism that has emerged from the global pandemic among consumers, is equally apparent within our industry.”

You can view the full list of speakers and moderators on the dedicated TR Consumer Forum website. 

DAY 1: MONDAY 5 SEPTEMBER
Opening Address and Keynote Session (09.00-10.30)
Following a welcome coffee, courtesy of Ritter Sport, comes the welcome and opening keynote with the theme of ‘curating a customer centric culture.

Yiannis Karousos, Cyprus Minister of Transport, Communications & Works and executives from leading organisations including m1nd-set, Hermes Airports, ARI Middle East (ARIME) and Qatar Duty Free, who will share global and local perspectives on the conference theme.

Karousos will kick-start proceedings with an opening address, highlighting the various investments and initiatives that the country, a major tourist destination, has been implementing to help ensure the Mediterranean island is top of mind for tourists as they take to the skies and seas once again.

Eleni Kaloyirou, CEO at Hermes Airports will share how the company continues to navigate through turbulent times to ensure commercial operations are in line with passenger expectations.

The session will also feature an address from ARI Middle East (ARIME) CEO Rob Marriott and Barry Wheeler, Head of Retail at Qatar Duty Free.

Peter Mohn, CEO & Owner at m1nd-set will provide a state of the industry address looking at how global air traffic is evolving in the current context.

The Customer Journey Redefined (11.15-12.45)
The first speaker session follows the mid-morning coffee, courtesy of Nestlé International Travel Retail.

Panellists will discuss shopper behaviour and technology and how they are reshaping the passenger journey through the airport or cruise store and the surrounding travel retail environment.

The panel comprises: Jason Scott-Lewis, Commercial Director Europe at CircleSquare; Robbie Gill, Founder and Managing Director of The Design Solution; Dr Lena Reiss, Manager, Head of Health and Wellbeing, Drees & Sommer; Thomas Kaneko Henningsen, Managing Partner at Blueprint; Morten Pankoke, Managing Director, Intelligent Track Systems; and Anna Marchesini, Head of Business Development at m1nd-set.

The Power of Place (13.45-15.00)
After lunch on Monday, sponsored by Leonidas, comes this powerful session that will explore the importance of destination branding in retail design, product packaging and merchandising in amplifying and improving the overall customer experience and loyalty in travel retail.

The panellists include: Sergios Sergiou, Business Development & Innovation Manager at CTC-ARI Airports; Elias Liolios, Senior Manager of Commercial & Business Development at Hermes Airports; Jan-Henrik Andersson, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) & Chief Security Officer (CSO), Munich Airport; Robin Rossi, Head of Design and Customer Experience at Altavia Travel Retail; Christos Malecos, Lead Senior Designer at The Design Solution and Clara Susset, Chief Operating Officer at m1nd-set.

“The power of place is crucial for all commercial activities and especially for travel retail,” said Andersson. “The goal is to create a pleasant and unique shopping environment with ‘wow factor’ through distinctive design, new digital technologies, sound and acoustic control as well as special scents.

“We are not only following this approach at Munich Airport by building brand awareness through the omnipresence of Bavarian hospitality and spirit, but also in our international engagements such as the new Terminal A at Newark Airport / USA.”

Regional spotlight (part 1): Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa (15.45-16.00)
Following the afternoon coffee break courtesy of Loacker, this session’s expert panellists will discuss how shopper behaviour in travel retail has changed in the post-pandemic, post-Brexit environment around Europe.

It will explore European shopping behaviour with a focus on the UK and Scandinavia specifically. The panellists will also address shopper behaviour and issues impacting the business across the European continent.

The European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC) will also share the latest progress on the development of arrivals duty free shopping in the region and consumer campaigns the regional association has been working on in recent months.

Julie Lassaigne, Secretary General at ETRC; Karl Walter, Board Member, Nordic Travel Retail Group (NTRG); and Peter Mohn, CEO & Owner at m1nd-set are among the speakers.

Regional spotlight (part 2): Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa (16.00-17.15)
In part 2 of this regional spotlight session, delegates will hear from expert panellists about the key geo-political, economic and social contexts impacting consumer behaviour across the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions in 2022.

The panellists will look at the key dynamics that are influencing consumer behaviour when travelling to, through and from the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific regions, and how shoppers are behaving differently when travelling internationally.

The will discuss the various initiatives have been introduced in recent times to adapt to the changing consumer behaviour since the pandemic by stakeholders across these regions.

Ramesh Cidambi COO of Dubai Duty Free; Pravat Paikray, Assistant Vice President – Commercial Development, Bangalore International Airport; Sherif Toulan, President of MEADFA and CEO of International Duty Free Trading and Agencies; Mabel Lam, Business Director, EMEA, iClick Interactive Asia Group; and Peter Mohn, CEO & Owner at m1nd-set are speaking.

DAY 2 – TUESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
Keynote Session (09.00-09.50)
Fraser Brown, Retail & Property Director at London Heathrow Airport will talk about how one of the world’s busiest airports has navigated through the recent months and stepped up its consumer-centric drive in the wake of fresh challenges over recent months. He will be joined on stage by Sammy Patel, Vice President Commercial at Vantage Airport Group.

What’s next? Categories of the future (09.50-10.30)
Changing consumer behaviour is redefining the retail landscape. The ideal store of the future in 2022 and beyond will be defined by these shifts in consumer trends. Core categories’ product portfolios will evolve and new sub-categories will emerge in travel retail to cater to the latest consumer trends and expectations.

In this cross-category session, the panellists will provide an overview of global shopper behaviour across key categories pre-covid and how the pandemic has influenced the way travellers browse and shop for these categories.

The session will also reveal strategic research into which categories will be the most relevant in the future to travel retail and how travel retail stakeholders will need to review how they prioritise categories and focus on engaging with customers.

The session will feature Anna Marchesini, Head of Business Development at m1nd-set, Tamara Spada, Marketing Manager at Nestlé International Travel Retail; and Thorsten Hartmann, Head of Special Data Projects – GTR, IWSR.

Conscious Consumerism (11.15-12.30)
This highly anticipated session on social and environmental responsibility will shine a light on how industry stakeholders are implementing a plethora of purpose-driven practices, across social responsibility, environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion and health and wellbeing.

This session will feature contributions from Anna Vasila, Head, Sustainability and Industry Affairs at Athens International Airport; Tracy Ross, Projects & Design Manager, Sustainability Champion & LEED Green Associate at Aer Rianta International Middle East (ARIME); Graeme Stewart, CEO of Enviro-Point; Tamara Spada, Marketing Manager at Nestlé International Travel Retail and Clara Susset, Chief Operating Officer, m1nd-set.

“We at Nestlé believe consumers are looking for wider choices when they travel and consider that food has the opportunity to become the number one most purchased category in travel retail,” said NITR’s Spada.

“In my session I will be discussing our strategy to elevate the food category and meet the consumers’ needs beyond confectionery.”

Graeme Stewart, CEO of Enviro-Point added: “I am incredibly proud and excited to be speaking at the Conscious Consumerism seminar and look forward to introducing some thought provoking calls to action surrounding sustainable solutions – for the consumer to become more conscious.

“It is the responsibility of the business to ensure they are utilising the correct materials; unfortunately, far too many businesses within the industry are introducing solutions which they believe to be more sustainable but in fact, are far worse once researched correctly.”

Consumer Engagement Part 1: Industry 4.0 & The Impact on Shopper Influence (13.30-14.45)
After the networking lunch sponsored by Haribo, this session will provide an engaging overview of some more cutting-edge technology and innovations available to the industry to better engage with travelling consumers. Brand building and customer engagement is as important, if not more important for some consumer profiles, in the digital world than in the physical.

How are brands today embracing the metaverse to connect with the younger consumer generations in their own environments and what are the implications and opportunities for brands in travel retail? Discover how digital technology, whether in store, online across pre-travel touchpoints, via social media influencers or within the metaverse, is impacting shopper behaviour and customer loyalty.

Featured speakers are Altavia Travel Retail’s Senior Strategist Emily Garrett; Jonathan Chippindale, Co-founder and Chief Executive at Holition; Andrew Machin, Managing Director, Kounter (part of the Bluedog Group); Daniel Worboys, Retail Design Director at Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail; Christophe Girard, Strategic Retail Projects Manager, Vinci Airports; Jérôme Lepage, Marketing & Business Development Director, JCDecaux International Transport Division; and Peter Mohn, CEO & Owner at m1nd-set.

Customer Engagement Part 2: The Power of People (15.30-16.45)
After a networking coffee sponsored by Walker’s, the final session will commence with consumer insights on the importance of staff; staff engagement and the increasing and varying impact of the interaction with staff from the consumer’s perspective.

The m1nd-set team will share the global travelling consumer perspective, after which the interactive panel discussion will explore each panellist’s perspective on the theme in greater depth.

Toni McDonald, Retail & Marketing Manager at Cyprus Duty Free; Kim De Vito, Head of Client Services at Blackjack Promotions; Lea Claxton, Head of Retail Space, Strategy & Delivery, London Heathrow Airport; Sammy Eltayeb Senior Operations Manager UK, also from Blackjack Promotions; and Anna Marchesini, Head of Business Development at m1nd-set will join the panel.

Both Cyprus Duty Free and Blackjack will also bring along a member of their frontline sales /operations teams to provide a more hands-on perspective in this session.

“Our business is powered by our people,” said McDonald. “We have built a world-class team that puts the customer at the heart of everything they do, creating an exceptional and memorable retail experience for everyone travelling through our shops. It is our people and our customers who inspire us each day to do better as a business.”

The registration rate is £695 per person, which includes all networking events during the two-day conference at the Parklane, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Limassol. To find out more, visit the dedicated website at travelretailconsumerforum.com.