INTERNATIONAL. Following extensive consultation with travel retail and aviation sector stakeholders, The Moodie Davitt Report is pleased to announce that the 2021 Virtual Travel Retail Experience will take place from 11-15 October 2021, followed by a six-week complimentary ‘encore’ access for exhibitors and visitors.
The Moodie Davitt Report has retained integrated creative agency FILTR.QINGWA as its Virtual Expo Stand and Experience Partner, supporting participants through the company’s operations in China, France, Singapore and the UK.
The 2021 Virtual Travel Retail Expo will build on the success of the October 2020 event, with several breakthrough improvements planned around the areas of buyer-seller interaction, a streamlined conference programme and an enhanced platform for Chinese visitors.
[Click on the YouTube icon to view highlights from last year’s successful Virtual Travel Retail Expo]
The Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2021 will see the return of Qatar Duty Free as a Diamond Event Partner (confirmed this morning by Qatar Duty Free), including an enhanced version of The QDF Factor – a unique competition to incentivise innovation with a grand prize of a six-month listing with the acclaimed travel retailer in 2022 and a complimentary six-month US$50,000 advertising campaign with The Moodie Davitt Report. Full details soon.
Additionally, The Moodie Davitt Report is in talks with other key industry partners to become involved in the event – more to follow in coming days, along with news about our landmark 2021 exhibitors.
The Moodie Davitt Report Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie commented, “We are delighted to release details of the Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2021, which has been formulated in line with a fast-evolving and deeply uncertain industry landscape. Our chosen dates deliberately avoid conflict with physical events such as TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in September – which we are fully supportive of – and steer clear of any major national and religious holidays.”
Other key elements of the October event include:
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- A unique Loyalty Scheme for returning exhibitors from 2020, who will receive a -10% discount on 2020 fees if they maintain the same stand tier as last year;
- -10% Early Bird incentive for new and returning exhibitors and sponsors booking by 1 May;
- A dedicated Retailer Pavilion for airport, downtown, cruise, airline, rail and omnichannel retailers;
- An Experiential Arena, allowing companies which do not wish to exhibit, high-impact visibility opportunities;
- An enhanced Knowledge Hub programme over five days, featuring many of the sector’s key decision makers, disruptors and innovators;
- A strong CSR element, which will see one tree planted for each visitor via The Trinity Forest Project and other charitable causes supported;
- The addition of the long-established Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards, making a return after one year’s absence due to the pandemic;
- The integration of The Moodies – travel retail and aviation’s only social and digital media awards and workshop – which becomes part of the programme, together with a dedicated digital, communications and advertising workshop. The Moodies this year will be extended to cover the whole travel ecosystem.
SCENES FROM THE VIRTUAL TRAVEL RETAIL EXPO 2020
Moodie added, “All participants – exhibitors, sponsors, visitors and media – have the commitment of my team, and our outstanding partners at FILTR.QINGWA, that this event will be inspirational, memorable and productive in equal parts, providing excellent return on investment.
“We are harnessing all the unique learnings and best practice from our 2020 show to create even more diverse and enriching content, engagement and showcasing platforms, while responding to the budgetary pressures faced by all sector stakeholders with cost-conscious and highly-accessible pricing structures.”
For more information about becoming an exhibitor or sponsor of the Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2021, please contact Irene Revilla, Publisher, The Moodie Davitt Report (Irene@moodiedavittreport.com).
BUILDING ON THE VIRTUAL TRAVEL RETAIL EXPO 2020
The inaugural Virtual Travel Retail Expo was the key trade event of the 2020 travel retail calendar, attracting over 4,370 unique visitors, who paid over 20,000 visits to the platform. 124 exhibition stands received more than 183,600 impressions and generated 179,700 content clicks. The conference and workshop agenda was packed with 42 sessions and received over 30,000 session views. Elsewhere in the event, the Experience Hub hosted 41 sessions, hosted by exhibitors themselves, with 9,140 views.
The post-event survey revealed that 86% of exhibitors and 89% of visitors would return to Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2021, with around 50% of the respondents suggesting October was the best timing for a virtual event of this kind.
Moodie Davitt Report and FILTR.QINGWA delivered on their commitments to corporate social responsibility at the 2020 event. Proceeds funded 112 cleft operations through cleft charity The Smile Train; saw 4,250 trees planted via The Trinity Forest Project; and donated US$16,000 to ImpactHK, the 2020 designated charity year for Women in Travel Retail.