SAVE THE DATE FOR CHINA’S CENTURY CONFERENCE 2015

The TFWA China’s Century Conference, organised in partnership with APTRA, will be held from 10th to 12th March 2015, in the luxurious Jing An Shangri-La Hotel in China’s commercial capital, Shanghai.

The China’s Century Conference, whose first edition in 2013 was acclaimed by many of the 372 attendees as one of the best industry conferences ever, will explore the commercial opportunities resulting from the rapid development of aviation and transport infrastructure within China.

The conference will deepen delegates’ understanding of the Chinese travellers and their evolving expectations, and offer opportunities to meet key players from airports, airlines, operators, distributors and brands through TFWA’s ONE2ONE meetings service.

On Wednesday 11th, following welcome addresses from the official hosts, including President TFWA Erik Juul-Mortensen and President APTRA Jaya Singh, the Chairman of China Duty Free Group Peng Hui, will contemplate ‘A new era in Chinese duty free’.

Chairman Peng’s participation comes at an auspicious time for CDFG, following the opening of the new luxury retail complex at Haitang Bay, along with several other major retail developments in mainland China.

In a session exploring the potential and implications of the new Shanghai Free Trade Zone, Mark Schaub, author and partner at King&Wood and Mallesons, the largest law firm in China, will lead a panel of speakers discussing the opportunities for retail brought by the first free trade zone in mainland China and its likely impact on foreign investment.

‘Luxury goods: a market under threat?’ will assess the implications of the slowdown in sales of luxury goods to Chinese travellers and competition from online and domestic channels with a panel of speakers comprising brand-owners, retailers and market experts.

The keynote address of Thursday 12th will be offered by Shaun Rein, Managing Director of the China Market Research Group, media commentator and author of ‘The End of Cheap China’. He will reflect on the implications for global and regional trade of current consumption trends in China.

‘Harnessing China’s social networks’ is high on the agenda as Baidu, WeChat, Weibo and other social networks are increasingly influencing the purchase decisions of Chinese customers.

Confirmed sponsors to date include Bally, Furla, Mondelez, Colorful Licenses International, Lacoste and Kipling.

Further details of the TFWA China’s Century Conference 2015 and other TFWA events can be found at www.tfwa.com.

Ends

Furla opens new stores in Harrods

Carrying on with its global expansion into Travel Retail, premium accessories brand Furla is pleased to announce the opening of new stores situated in the Harrods stores in Heathrow T3 and Gatwick South.

The stores opened with Furla’s AW14 collection in September 2014.

Says Gerry Munday, Global Travel Retail Director: “It has been a delight to work with Harrods, we have seen phenomenal sales so far which have exceeded all expectations.”