Titled ‘China Century – The Fast Pace of Change in China Duty Free & Travel Retail’, it will take place at the Beijing hotel, Beijing from March 5-7, 2013.
When asked whether the sector needs another event with all the costs entailed by participating companies and delegates, TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen said that a ‘Gateway to China’ conference had been “hanging around on the TFWA agenda for at least 10 years”.
He said the association in a survey to members had received a ‘strong response” for a conference in China.
TFWA marketing director Cécile Lamotte also defended the decision. She said: “Yes, it is another conference but it is the best possible environment to do business with the networking opportunity.
Conference and research manager, Michael Barrett, said: “We are serving the needs and requirements of our members. This is a non-profit making event. Juul-Mortensen remarked: “If this was about making money, we would not go there.”
The event has been set up to bring together decision makers from China’s aviation industry, including airlines and airports and retailers and suppliers from the international duty free and travel industry.
The TFWA says airport architecture and airport retail design in both domestic and international channels will be studied as well as the methods used by Chinese airports to differentiate and woo the international traveller in the 21st Century.
There will be independent research into consumer behaviour and retail spend as well as insights from experts on communicating with Chinese consumers through new media, says the TFWA.
