Singapore, June 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- After a very successful week, the 20th Asia Pacific exhibition and conference for the duty-free and travel retail industry – the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference 2015 – closed on May 14 in Singapore.
To view the multimedia news release, click:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7484951-20th-duty-free-travel-asia-summit/
The 2015 exhibition occupied more space than any previous edition, covering 9,118 square meters, a 9% increase over 2014. The number of exhibiting companies reached 292 (a 12% increase from the previous year), including 73 first-time exhibitors. The show also presented a wide variety of products to visiting buyers and agents.
The exhibition organizer, the Tax Free World Association (TFWA), expressed satisfaction with the visitor numbers. This year, the duty-free and travel retail industry faced significant challenges, including several air accidents worldwide, evolving trends in gift-giving and luxury consumption among the highly important Chinese travelers, financial instability in several countries, and heightened political tensions—all contributing to slower growth in air passenger traffic.
A total of 2,655 professional visitors attended the 2015 exhibition, matching last year’s figure. These visitors came from 1,053 companies (a 3% increase from the previous year), with over one-third being “key buyers”—duty-free and travel retail operators and owners from airports, airlines, ferries, cruise lines, and cross-border and city-center duty-free shops.
President of the Tax Free World Association Erik Juul-Mortensen said: “I was impressed by the quality of the stands this year, the range of products on display, and the vibrant atmosphere of the show. This has not been an easy year for the Asia Pacific duty-free and travel retail industry, so we are really pleased with the number of exhibitors and the quality of the visitors.”
Provisional figures from independent research firm Generation Research indicate that 2014 duty-free and travel retail sales in the Asia Pacific region totaled USD 23.6 billion, up 5.5% from the previous year. With a 38% share of total global duty-free and travel retail sales, Generation Research also ranked the Asia Pacific region first in sales among all regions. Europe came in second, followed by the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.
Future events organized by the Tax Free World Association include the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, to be held from October 18 to 23, 2015, at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, and the Middle East and Africa Duty Free Association Conference, to be held from November 22 to 24, 2015, at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre by the Dead Sea in Jordan.Middle East Visit http://www.tfwa.com for details about these exhibitions.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150608/735945 )