The popular gala cocktail (pictured here is last year’s at the FDFA Annual Convention in Montreal, Quebec) is set to improve.

Canada’s Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA) has announced changes to its annual duty free convention programme with flexible attendance times for suppliers, category-specific operator bookings and a focused meetings itinerary.

In a move to provide flexibility, time and cost savings, the voice of Canada’s land border duty free industry has removed the trade floor element and condensed the event from five to four working days (until at least 2020) to allow suppliers the time to maximise their schedules.

“The travel retail business continues to grow, change and evolve into a multi-faceted industry for today’s world,” the association stated in a document.

“The FDFA has created a new meeting format in response to the needs of its supplier and operator members; a forum for collaboration and innovation. A place to build relationships, build brands and build businesses based on key pillars of value and growth.”

Abe Taqtaq, Chair, FDFA Board of Directors.

MORE EFFICIENT MEETINGS

Meetings will be arranged on a category basis, with specific days allotted for each to facilitate a more efficient agenda for operators and suppliers.

Liquor and cosmetics meetings will take place on Monday and Tuesday, while tobacco and ancillary appointments will begin on Tuesday and last through Wednesday.

Individual supplier and operator meetings scheduled intermittently throughout the week will allow attendees to plan their individual meetings.

Additionally, suppliers will provide ideas for growth via presentations to operators on a region or group basis on themes including logistics, marketing, sales and operations.

For this year’s convention, which takes place at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto (4-7 November), the FDFA has booked four consecutive floors with a host of suites and room configurations to accommodate individual needs. Suppliers can also book meeting rooms on the main registration floor.

The Sunday before the event, which begins in earnest on the Monday, has been allocated exclusively to airport and associate members to conduct meetings. These will continue in the usual fashion through to Wednesday.

REVAMPED SOCIAL AGENDA

The traditional cocktail, also held on the Sunday evening, will now include ‘mini events’ showcasing new launches, brands and innovations from suppliers and foster participation between buyers and suppliers.

Meanwhile, the traditional gala dinner and awards presentation moves from Wednesday to Monday evening to encourage back-to-back networking during the week.

A post-gala lounge will fuse two venues and brands to explore the heritage behind premier duty free players. All the social events take place at the King Edward Hotel.

The 2018 FDFA Annual Convention takes place at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto, 4-7 November.

These alterations to the convention’s makeup are not unexpected, with FDFA Board of Directors Chair Abe Taqtaq telling TRBusiness in September that a ‘strategic view’ was being taken on the operations of the convention and association to move things forward following the departure of Executive Director Laurie Karson.

The creation of a Strategic Convention Committee coincided with a wholesale review of the association and its convention to identify ‘best value’, with a refreshed convention format designed to foster information sharing to the benefit of vendors, operators and suppliers at retail level. [To read the full interview with Abe Taqtaq click here. For the global DF&TR industry picture, subscribe to TRBusiness].

Registration for the FDFA Convention 2018 opens on 25 June, with an early-bird deadline of 31 August.