INTERNATIONAL. The Virtual Travel Retail Expo (11-15 October) continues to gain momentum with several inspirational social and business leaders added to the Knowledge Hub speaking programme and more exhibitors signing up.

Further major exhibitor announcements will be made next week. The deadline for exhibitor bookings is just 11 days away on 16 August.

Drinks company Campari, which won five global design, experience and marketing awards for its Fly Campari Group Virtual Stand during the inaugural Virtual Travel Retail Expo last year, returns this year as a Gold Partner.

Mast-Jägermeister is another big name to return. The Jägermeister brand, one of the world’s biggest-selling spirits brands, will be showcased via another high-impact Gold virtual stand. Other partners include confectionery & food powerhouse Mondelez World Travel Retail (Gold) and dynamic German eyewear specialist Rodenstock (Silver) each returning having exhibited successfully at the 2020 event.

Meanwhile Taipei-based travel retailer Ever Rich Duty Free has confirmed its presence as an exhibitor within the newly developed Retailer Emporium, alongside other leading retailers.

Campari was the most-visited stand at the Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2020, an affirmation of how well the company pre-marketed its presence and ensured highly engaging experience for on-site visitors

Expect plenty of trademark vibrancy, fun and immersive activity as the hugely popular independent Jägermeister brand makes a welcome return to the event

Interest continues to build in the Virtual Travel Retail Expo, with 11 days until the 16 August exhibitor booking deadline

The Virtual Travel Retail Expo is owned and managed by The Moodie Davitt Report and event partner FILTR.QINGWA. As reported, Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development (Hainan IEDB) has become a Co-Organiser of the Expo and Host of a major standout of the event, the Hainan Discovery zone.

(Above) Dynamic German eyewear specialist Rodenstock and (below) confectionery & food powerhouse Mondelez World Travel Retail each make a welcome return after succesful showings from their 2020 virtual stands (pictured)

Retailers, airport companies, service providers and associations that have registered to attend in recent days include

    • Adani Airports (the new powerhouse of Indian airports)
    • Airports Council International
    • AirCanteen
    • Bahrain Airport Company
    • Budapest Airport
    • Emirates Leisure Retail
    • Iraq Duty Free
    • King Power Group (HK)
    • King Power International
    • King Power Traveler
    • KrisShop
    • Layam
    • Maldives Airports Company
    • Noida International Airport (a proposed international airport to be constructed near the town of Jewar in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India)
    • Paradies Lagardère
    • Regstaer
    • Shilla Travel Retail
    • TRG Concessions
    • Western Sydney Airport.

LEAD. INSPIRE. TRANSFORM

The Knowledge Hub will feature a diverse range of high-quality speakers under the pillar themes of the event: Lead. Inspire. Transform.

Under Inspire, the opening day of the Knowledge Hub (11 October) will feature a star turn in Tegla Loroupe, Founder & President of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation & Chef de Mission for the Olympic Refugee Team in Tokyo.

Leading, inspiring and transforming: (Left to right) Tegla Loroupe, Mignon Buckingham and Marc-André Kamel

Tegla is a former champion Kenyan long-distance track and world record-holding road runner and a passionate global spokeswoman for peace, women’s rights, education for all and recogniton and compassion for the displaced. Her session features a conversation with Martin Moodie, in which she will share her story, career highlights, ambitions and the driving force that inspires her to bring positive change to the world.

“It is such an honour to feature Tegla Laroupe in the Knowledge Hub programme,” said The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie. “From being a little girl who ran 10k to and from school every day in her bare feet to her long career as a world-class athlete and then as a humanitarian leader in the fields of peace, women’s rights, inclusion and championing the displaced, Tegla has always led from the front in every sense.

“Few people, I think, fit the bill of INSPIRE better than Tegla. We vowed from the outset that the Virtual Travel Retail Expo would not be an insular industry event but that it would include voices from outside our industry who lead, inspire and transform.

“What a wonderful thing it is, then, that a woman who has stood up for the dispossessed and displaced of the world should feature in an international event focused on an industry that transcends all borders, geographies, cultures, religions and politics.”

Later during the first day under the Lead theme, Mignon Buckingham, CEO, Airport Dimensions will then present a special session on ‘Envisioning The Airport Experience of The Future – a Consumer-centric View’. Airport Dimensions is a global leader in delivering airport lounges and traveller experiences.

With 30 years’ experience in business strategy, development and management, Mignon Buckingham has played a significant part in the growth of Airport Dimensions’ parent company Collinson for over 20 years. This session, leveraging consumer research especially commissioned for the Virtual Travel Retail Expo, will focus on understanding traveller needs, demands and aspirations for the airport experience of the future.

Day Two, Tuesday 12 October, in the Knowledge Hub will provide a special session under the Transform theme led by Marc-André Kamel, Global Head of the Retail practice and leading member of Bain’s Full Potential Transformation practice. He will be joined by Mauro Anastasi, Partner, Bain & Company Italy and Jack MacGowan, Director, Castlepole Consulting.

The trio will offer a key follow-up to the Trinity White Paper written by Anastasi and MacGowan that was published earlier this year in association with The Moodie Davitt Report. Among other findings, the paper said that travel retailers need to embrace digitalisation (CRM, data-enabled commercial decision making, omnichannel focus etc.) to a much greater degree, in a way that is customised for the channel. Kamel will address what this means in practice and how such a vision can be achieved.

As reported, all registered airport and retailer visitors for the Virtual Travel Retail Expo will be automatically entered into two Dubai Duty Free prize draws each week from now until the start of the live event. Participants are in with a chance to win tickets for the popular Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draws and could capture the grand prizes of US$1 million or a luxury car respectively. Click here to register.

For exhibitors, the event features a range of Virtual Stands at different price levels, each offering a high-class digital experience, and unrivalled visibility to the global travel retail community in these difficult times. As noted above, the booking deadline is 16 August.

For details on exhibiting or sponsoring the Virtual Travel Retail Expo please email Irene Revilla at Irene@MoodieDavittReport.com or Sarah Genest at Sarah@MoodieDavittReport.com