TFWA World Exhibition 2019


The Cannes-do travel retail spirit

This year’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference was larger than ever and attracted a record 7,531 delegates, a +7% increase on 2018. These pictures capture some of the key moments and the vibrancy and variety of the event.

Bright lights: The Opening Cocktail in Port Canto and fireworks display over Cannes sparked this year’s TFWA World Exhibition to life in spectacular style – a time to celebrate and catch up with friends ahead of a busy week. Above photo: Nathalie Oundjian, below photo: Guillaume LeBlanc

TFWA President Alain Maingreaud and the TFWA Board perform the ceremonial ribbon cutting at the end of the conference to mark the beginning of the exhibition. Photo: Nathalie Oundjian

Calling for unity: In his conference speech, Maingreaud called for both a more coherent method of data sharing across the industry and a more sustainable commercial relationship between the Trinity of retailer, landlord and brand. Photo: Nathalie Oundjian

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair shared insights and aimed to inspire delegates at the conference, but the choice of keynote speaker was not without controversy. Photo: Nathalie Oundjian

Walking the walk: There were 504 exhibitors this year with an increase in floor space to 23,443sq m, up from 22,759sq m

Many companies took advantage of the Harbour Village’s beach-side location to host meetings and events in the Cannes sunshine. Photo: Alexis Jacquin

The Innovation in Action Workshop was both well attended and insightful. Among the speakers, Alibaba Group CMO Christina Lu revealed that her company has built the Global Fun travel platform. It is based on Fliggy, the travel booking service, and the biggest pay platform in the world, Alipay, which has 1.2 billion consumers globally. Photos: Nathalie Oundjian

Innovation was very much a theme of the week and the TFWA Innovation Lab, which replaced the Digital Village, provided some insight into what the duty free and travel retail industry might look like in the future. Photos: Nathalie Oundjian

The place to be: The Scene was once more Cannes’ premier after-party venue, with many delegates taking the chance to relax and unwind

Flying high: The Inflight Focus Workshop looked at challenges – and particularly opportunities – in the sector, as well as the transition from traditional models to ecommerce. Photo: Nathalie Oundjian

Le Premium Evening, called ‘Showtime’, featured great art, gastronomy and entertainment. With multiple musical eras covered, people were up and dancing even before dinner had ended. More than 800 people attended the lively event. Photo: Nathalie Oundjian

Writer’s block: The Moodie Davitt Report Founder Martin Moodie was the delighted human guinea pig for P&G brand Snowberry’s carbon offset plan in which all the Snowberry team globally will be asked to plant their own plants when they visit the magnificent Snowberry Gardens, 90 minutes north of Auckland. During Cannes, P&G Global Travel Retail General Manager Shweta Sharma presented Moodie with a framed photo commemorating the launch of ‘Martin Moodie’s Carbon Block’. The below video shows the cleared land being planted with his offsets, set against the ravishing backdrop of the sub-tropical paradise that is Snowberry Gardens.

For more of Martin Moodie’s personal Cannes highlights, read his blog here. Read our special eZine celebrating the history, provenance and future of Snowberry, which recently launched into global travel retail in association with Lagardère Travel Retail at Auckland Airport, here.

The TFWA golf tournament took place in splendid sunshine at Royal Mougins, courtesy of major sponsor Qatar Duty Free, which will also co-host The Trinity Forum in Doha on 30-31 October. Around 80 golfers took part at the stunning course. Photo: Alexis Jacquin

Photos: Nathalie Oundjian

Above photo: Alexis Jacquin. Below photo: Guillaume LeBlanc

Work hard, play hard: Other networking social events and activities included yoga, e-biking, pétanque and a visit to the International Perfume Museum

They came, they roared, they conquered. Wild Tiger ‘co-pilots’ Gautom Menon and Paul George Vedanayagam completed their epic journey in support of tiger conservation in Cannes. They are pictured here with former TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen and newly elected Duty Free World Council President Sarah Branquinho

Coming together for a cause: The admirable and inspirational Women in Travel Retail and its supporters raised close to €19,000 for the Friends-International Beauty Vocational Training and Education Support project during the WiTR networking and fundraising meeting at the TFWA World Exhibition

The 11th annual Sunglasses Workshop & Awards celebrated the big winners and innovators of the sunglasses category with The Shilla Duty Free taking home the top retailer award. Dufry, Gebr Heinemann, China Duty Free Group, Beirut Duty Free and DFS Group (who received the Partnership Award, pictured below) were among the other winners.

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The Moodie Davitt eZine

Issue 269 | 15 October 2019

The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 20 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd).


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