Erik Juul-Mortensen has been re-elected as President of Tax Free World Association for a fourteenth annual term.

 

The election took place at last Friday’s quarterly meeting of the TFWA Management Committee in Berlin (December 7) marking a remarkable term where TFWA has improved immeasurably under his fair-handed guidance

 

As is well known by his elder colleagues, Juul-Mortensen was a founder member of TFWA in 1985 and has been an influential member of its Management Committee throughout its existence. He was elected to the Board in 1986, serving as Vice President Marketing & Communication for 10 years, with a further year as VP Special Projects. He was first elected President in September 1999.

 

Meanwhile, the TFWA Management Committee also met at the same venue to discuss the three successful events in 2012, each of which broke records for attendance. In May, 2,164 trade visitors attended TFWA Asia Pacific in Singapore, up 2% on the previous year, to discuss business with the 236 exhibitors and here about the potential of the region through a very well-received conference and a number of very relevant workshops.

 

 

A VERY SUCCESSFUL YEAR

In October, the 462 exhibiting companies and a strong conference line-up at TFWA World Exhibition attracted 6,074 industry delegates (+4%). Most recently the MEDFA Conference, organised by TFWA on behalf of the Middle East Duty Free Association, welcomed over 500 people to examine business development in the region and beyond [=this was the best event of its kind to date-Ed].

 

TFWA adds that at the meeting on Friday, the Management Committee also discussed plans for the 2013 editions of these events and, in addition, the inaugural Industry Conference on China, organised by TFWA in partnership with the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association, which will take place in Beijing in March 2013.

 

Erik Juul-Mortensen, TFWA President said: “2012 has been an extraordinary year for TFWA and for the duty free and travel retail industry as a whole. The strong growth through 2011 has continued this year, again led by Asia, and we can expect realistically that the final total of global sales in 2012 will be nudging $50 billion worldwide.

 

“At TFWA we have exciting plans for the coming year and I look forward to working closely with the TFWA executive team, the Board and the Management Committee to build on the successful 2012 events and to realise our ambitious plans for the next 12 months.”