Speaking exclusively to TRBusiness at the TFWA Conference & Exhibition in Cannes, Dag Rasmussen, CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail, and Frédéric Chevalier, Regional COO EMEA discussed the retailer’s robust performance in Europe and the Americas, the need to strategically diversify its portfolio, and the importance of hybrid concepts, sustainability and data sharing in the DF&TR industry.

Chevalier opened by noting Lagardère’s strong double-digit growth throughout FY24 and especially in the Americas.

“Starting with America, we have a very robust business there. Growth is good, both in dining and in classic, traditional, we finalised the integration and acquisition of Taste on the Fly, and that’s a big plus to our business in the region.”

Chevalier also noted tender wins in Europe, such as its entry into the Romanian duty free market at Bucharest International Airport, and the dining master concession tender at Varna and Burgas Airports, had offered encouraging like-for-like growth, while also touching upon the retailer’s performance in the Middle East.

“In Europe, the momentum has been excellent, renewing some big tenders…and the like-for-like overall, is very, very encouraging. The Middle East has been a very good region for us as well. Many openings at Abu Dhabi, starting dining activity in in Dubai Airport, very good as well. So overall, very encouraging.”

In the months proceeding this interview, Lagardère further solidified its European presence with a major travel essentials master concession win at Düsseldorf Airport, and ousted Gebr. Heinemann from its retail position at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

The duo didn’t shy away however from answering questions about its lacklustre performance in APAC, an issue which continued to affect retailer’s globally.

Strength through diversification

Chevalier noted: “APAC is very difficult. The Chinese economy is struggling, and is even going deeper and deeper, quarter after quarter, we see that we suffer from that in China, for sure, but in all the countries exposed to Chinese passengers.

Strategically, we’re hedging this with a very international presence, we will be probably in 45 countries by the end of the year on three business lines, travel essentials, duty free, and fashion and food service. So there is an kind of automatic hedge.

In China, what we’re trying is to have the optimal positioning to be able to benefit from the restart, not investing too much in this time of uncertainties and yeah, discussing with airports who understand that the situation is not as good as it used to be a year ago, not even six months ago.”

In practical terms, it seems hedging against the downturn in Chinese pax has taken the form of contract wins elsewhere in APAC: In September 2024, Sydney Airport announced that Lagardère AWPL had bee awarded the Domestic Travel Essentials retail contract for the hub following a successful tender, and soon Lagardère AWPL will run duty free and travel retail concessions at Wellington Airport (WLG), a tender which was released amid a NZD 20 million/US$12,000,000 upgrade of the airport’s retail and hospitality services.

As the conversation shifted to focus on the increasingly competitive nature of tenders within the industry, Chevalier noted the key was sustainable growth – not growth at any cost –  shedding light on some of the unique ways in which Lagardère has evolved and tailored its proposals, using the example of its win at Techo International Airport, Cambodia, for a 12-year concession of duty free & fashion, foodservice and travel essentials, is the first of kind in Asia.

Chevalier said: “Take Cambodia. It’s profit share. So the fact that we are able to convince some major airports and major players in the airport industry that profit sharing is actually an optimal solution, it allows us, maybe not to show the highest guaranteed bid, but at the end of the day, to show what is optimum for the airport and for us.”

The conversation also covered ground on the growing importance of hybrid concepts within the business’ portfolio, with Chevalier calling it an opportunity for brands to ‘amplify the expression of their identity’, while also signalling the importance of its sustainability roadmap, and the impact – or lack thereof – of the Paris Olympic Games on the business.

Chevalier stated: “Something that is critical to us is  building a roadmap towards decarbonisation as a retailer. It is the case for us, but is the case for each and every retailer in the industry and outside of the industry, by very, very far, the bulk of the carbon footprint is related to the product we sell.

This means we absolutely need to engage together with our partner brands on a route for decarbonisation.”

A collaborative mindset

Rasmussen concurred, offering his thoughts on how the industry is – and should continue to be – moving forwards to a more collaborative environment, especially where concerning sustainable business practices: “As Frederick said, when you know that within 80% of our carbon footprint is linked to the products we sell, there’s such an alignment of interest between the suppliers, the operators, and airlines, to see how we can handle this. So we need to change the offer. We need to work on each and every aspect.”

Looking to the future of the industry as a whole, Chevalier noted: “We are very confident that traffic is there, there is an appetite for travelling…collaboration with brands will be critical in order to really deliver the travel experience we’re all looking for.”

Rasmussen concurred, adding: “What’s left is the wish to travel, the exchange between population, the desire to discover new horizons, I think it’s all there. And then we have to do our best to serve these passengers. That’s what we’re trying to do every day.”

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