INTERNATIONAL. Leading travel restaurateur SSP Group has been named as a key Knowledge Hub Partner for the dedicated food & beverage sessions at the eagerly anticipated Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2021 (11-15 October). The company will sponsor the ‘Transform’ pillar within the F&B module of the event programme.

Each day will feature sessions dedicated to the Lead, Inspire and Transform themes, with speakers drawn from both inside and outside the travel retail community, as reported.

SSP’s support lends further strong impetus to the all-digital event, which has attracted a growing number of brand and service companies as exhibitors, with the world’s leading travel retailers, travel food & beverage companies and airports committed to attending with their full teams.

SSP Chief Executive Simon Smith said: “We are delighted to be a sponsor of the 2021 FAB Knowledge Hub, and in particular the ‘Transform’ theme. As we begin to see the start of a recovery in air travel, it’s important for us to come together as an industry to address the continuing challenges but also identify the many opportunities that are emerging in our sector.

“Looking towards the recovery, we will need to continue to evolve our business to ensure we deliver an even greater passenger experience and ensure a return to sustainable growth in travel F&B. The Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo will provide an important platform to debate this and other key topics, and we very much look forward to supporting this unique event.”

The Knowledge Hub agenda, including a series of F&B-dedicated sessions on 14 October, will be announced shortly.

Lead. Inspire. Transform are the pillar themes for the Knowledge Hub at the Virtual Expo. Registration for the event is free to airport companies, retailers and media partners.

In related news, entries are now being invited for the FAB Superstars Awards 2021, which will shine the spotlight on the thousands of front-of-house and behind the scenes heroes and heroines who have helped keep the travel food & beverage industry going throughout the pandemic. Click here for more details and to make a nomination.

FAB Superstars is the sister programme to The Travel Retail Superstars Awards, a new annual awards scheme for travel retail employees across airport, airline, downtown store and cruise sectors. Both sets of awards will be announced during the Virtual Expo.

The Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards, conceived, owned and organised by The Moodie Davitt Report since 2011, is the only event dedicated to the burgeoning airport food & beverage business and returns this year in an online format, with a series of sessions dedicated to the channel on 14 October during the Expo. The FAB Superstars Awards will provide an uplifting and fitting end to this day by celebrating the resilience and achievements of employees in the F&B sector.

The Virtual Travel Retail Expo, a follow-up to the hugely successful 2020 event, is hosted by The Moodie Davitt Report with support partnership from FILTR.QINGWA.

Click here to register for the event and click here for more on the FAB Superstars Awards.

For more information about the Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2021 or FAB Superstars, please contact Irene Revilla, Publisher, The Moodie Davitt Report (Irene@moodiedavittreport.com) or Sarah Genest, Vice President Sales & Events (Sarah@MoodieDavittReport.com).