Setting the scene for Shanghai

This year’s Trinity Forum will feature its now trademark powerful line-up of travel retail industry leaders and external experts. It is taking place in Shanghai on 31 October and 1 November, at the luxurious Jing-An Shangri La Hotel.

The event, hosted by Shanghai Airport Authority, is a partnership between The Moodie Davitt Report, Airports Council International (ACI) and ACI Asia Pacific. Since it launched in 2003 The Trinity Forum has established itself as the world’s most influential airport commercial revenues conference.

The notion of Trinity – to foster greater understanding and partnership between airports, retailers and brands – has never been more critical than it is today. In Shanghai, The Trinity Forum will champion excellence and innovation, question mediocrity, and challenge (where necessary) the status quo.

This year’s theme is ‘The changing airport and travel retail commercial eco-system’. It will evaluate how airports are adapting their commercial proposition and consumer services in a highly digital and technological age.

The US$9 billion (at retail sales level, according to the Moodie Davitt Report’s Top 25 Travel Retailers 2017 Ranking) trio of China Duty Free Group President Charles Chen, Lagardère Travel Retail Chairman & CEO Dag Rasmussen and Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman Colm McLoughlin will lead the debate.

This year’s host, Shanghai Airport Authority, will be discussing exciting new terminal developments at Pudong International Airport and ambitious retail improvements at its two airports. This follows the confirmation of a new seven-year concession for Sunrise Duty Free (Shanghai Co), the CDFG-led travel retailer which aims to establish a new benchmark in China’s travel retail sector.

Harrods Business Development Director Raj Assanand, Aéroports de Paris Group Customer Division Director Mathieu Daubert and Tito’s Handmade Vodka Managing Director International John McDonnell will be among the keynote speakers on the opening afternoon, offering their views on how the airport, tourist shopping and travel retail eco-system is evolving.

They will be followed on the second day of the conference by experts from within and outside the industry. Aireen Omar, Deputy Group CEO AirAsia; Beth Brewster, Executive Vice President at Manchester Airports Group; Jayne Wear, Omnichannel Manager at Auckland International Airport and Gerry Munday, Global Travel Retail Director, Furla are just some of the leading women and men who will be sharing insights on where the industry is heading.

A range of external experts will provide fresh perspectives on some of the major themes dominating our industry today. These include how technology is reshaping the industry, the challenge of winning over Chinese travelling consumers and the implications for brands of the changing digital landscape in China.

These key topics and more will be discussed by Angela Wang, Partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group China; Yan Lee, Chief Product Officer at iClick Interactive; Mirko Wang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at Jessica’s Secret; Yiling Pan, Associate Editor at Jing Daily and Jing Travel and Kian Gould, CEO of AOE.