Travel retail and duty free industries meet for TFWA conference

Next month we are very excited to be attending the annual TFWA World Exhibition and Conference in Cannes, where many of the world’s market leaders from the travel retail and duty free industries will be meeting for five days of networking, business development and sharing innovative ideas from the 26th – 31st October.

As previously reported on the blog – travel retail is a rapidly growing industry as many non-traditional brands have found themselves exploring the possibilities of selling goods at travel hubs – utilising new technology such as click and collect or home delivery in order to be able to sell larger items such as white goods.

As retail designers and branding experts, we have found ourselves working on a growing number of travel retail design projects all over the world – from providing consistent branding for airport staples such as Travelex to developing exciting new ideas for retail journeys and signage throughout new travel hub developments.

The global duty free and travel retail trade association was founded in 1984 and held its first exhibition in Nice, France in 1985. The event moved to Cannes in 1986 and has made the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès its home ever since and this years TFWA conference is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary with a series of special birthday celebrations during the event.

The global summit will open for business on Monday 27th October with a 30-year retrospective at the TFWA World Conference, which will be followed by a birthday reception on the terrace at the front of the Palais, courtesy of the City of Cannes.

During the conference Barber will be meeting with clients – both old and new – and looking to reinforce or develop our business partnerships. We will also be joining the TFWA in their birthday celebrations as we commemorate an anniversary of our own. This August marked our fifteenth year in business, during which time we have seen a lot instability in the retail industry. One of the things which has enabled Barber to stay successful during these turbulent economic times has been our ability to adapt and respond to change. As we enter a new period of economic optimism we have shifted our focus onto growth areas like travel retail in order to carve our own niche as travel retail design and global branding experts.