TRBusiness and m1nd-set are pleased to announce an exciting and diverse speaker lineup for the first Travel Retail Consumer Forum, which is set to take place at the London Hilton Paddington hotel this September (20-22 September).

The strong roster of speakers adds lustre to two days of inspiration, innovation and creativity, as the industry meets for the first time in nearly two years at a physical event to ‘reimagine the future of travel retail’ through the slogan ‘Research, Reconnect, Re1magine’.

Heathrow Airport’s Retail & Property Director Fraser Brown will feature in the morning keynote session on day one alongside Manchester Airport Group’s (MAG) Head of Retail Ben Green.

CONSUMERS: THE FOCUS OF EVERY SESSION

The addresses will follow introductory remarks from m1nd-set CEO Peter Mohn and TRBusiness Editorial Director Charlotte Turner.

The opening session will offer a sweeping overview of how airports are reconsidering their approach to the consumer as well as the business from a series of diverse perspectives.

These will dovetail with a number of the conference programme themes, including sustainability, technology, luxury, shopping drivers and customer communications.

Throughout the agenda, Mohn will be joined by m1nd-set’s senior management team, Clara Susset, COO and Anna Marchesini, Head of Business Development.

Technology takes centre stage on day one in the second session, which will focus on how touchpoints and e-commerce in travel retail are evolving and how best to reach the travelling consumer with relevant and bespoke branding opportunities.

They will set the scene for each session by providing up to-the-minute consumer insights on how shoppers in travel retail perceive each specific theme and experience differently since the beginning of the pandemic.

The insights will also explore new consumer trends and shopper behaviours across various topics.

A DIVERSE AND ECLECTIC PROGRAMME

The session will include an eye-opening perspective into the latest technological advancements in retail technology with augmented and virtual reality, among other technologies, from pioneering digital studio Holition.

CEO Jonathan Chippendale will reveal how the studio is integrating an increasingly wide range of technologies for partner brands to enhance the customer experience.

Travel booking giant Expedia’s Business Development Director Evelina Hederer will provide proprietary insights into the latest trends in traveller behaviour across the group’s respective travel brands.

She will also share Expedia’s sentiment research examining the impact of the pandemic on traveller behaviour and how Covid-19 will continue to influence travellers.

Hederer will discuss how brands and retailers can engage with the travelling consumer through targeted messaging across Expedia’s global network of travel brands.

New influences and shopping drivers in the post-Covid context will be the focus of the third session on the opening day of the forum.

In the session focusing on in-store shopping cues, customer behaviour and design, Leanne Nutter, Retail and Brand Director at Blackjack, and well-known industry innovator and disruptor Alan Brennan, Global Director, New Channels at PanzerGlass will join m1nd-set’s Susset.

They will discuss how brands and retailers can and need to adapt to the post-pandemic traveller mindset to continue to deliver customer experience instore, from digital to the physical environments.

Johan Schölvinck, Managing Director of Market Square Consult will challenge the traditional methods for enticing the consumer to shop, wine or dine in the airport in the Covid-era and examine whether these methods still apply in today’s travel context.

The session will focus on a range of in-store shopping drivers, from staff to sense of place and retail design.

In the ‘A Spirited Recovery’ session, m1nd-set and IWSR will present the latest report from their combined market research and data platform ‘1nSpirit’, which provides market intelligence for the wine and spirits travel retail sector.

IWSR CEO Mark Meek and m1nd-set COO Clara Susset will share how brands need to re-assess and refine their business strategy for the travel retail wines and spirits sector in a post-Covid world based on the latest shopper behaviour and purchasing trends in the category.

AMPLE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

In addition, TRBusiness and m1nd-set are delighted to welcome well-respected industry association head Julie Lassaigne, Secretary General of the ETRC, to the conference.

Lassaigne will share what the ETRC has been doing to support the industry with consumer-facing campaigns to entice Europeans to travel again, as well as other initiatives to drive the sector’s growth amid these challenging times.

Further information on the Travel Retail Consumer Forum speaker lineup and session programme will be announced very soon.

For more information on the full event agenda, please visit the agenda page on the Travel Retail Consumer Forum website.

As the first event in which the industry will be able to meet together again in two years, the Travel Retail Consumer Forum organisers TRBusiness and m1nd-set are keen to prioritise networking opportunities throughout the two-day conference.

The event will kick off with the Opening Cocktail on Monday 20 September at the Hilton London Paddington hotel’s 146 Bar at the lobby level, sponsored by Altia and Koskenkorva Vodka.

The forum will also feature time for extended networking during the coffee breaks, sponsored by Leonidas and Ritter Sport, as well as long lunch breaks to enable delegates to enjoy plenty of opportunity to meet and greet after nearly two years of virtual-only events.

As reported, the first day of the conference will conclude with the gala dinner during which the winners of the 2021 Travel Retail Awards will be revealed during the awards ceremony, sponsored by Moroccanoil.

For more information on the programme and for speaking opportunities, please contact [email protected].

For more information about sponsoring these networking events, as well as other sponsorship opportunities, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

TRBusiness would like to pay a special thank you to the event’s partners and sponsors.