AFCOV Index shows tough year for French travel-retail

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French travel-retail association has released the first results of its new AFCOV Index, describing sales at the country's Espace Voyageur locations

French travel-retail association AFCOV (Association Française du Commerce du Voyageur) has released the first results of its new AFCOV Index, a study designed to measure sales patterns across key travel-retail locations in France's Espace Voyageur network. The survey?which covers a ?representative panel? of sales outlets including four leading airports, a selection of ferry companies and Eurotunnel's French terminal run by Aelia?reveals that sales turnover in 2003 was significantly down on the previous year, with a steady monthly decline until December.

The AFCOV Index measures turnover in two categories; the ?traditional? sectors of liquor, tobacco and beauty; and ?specialist? sectors including fashion, gifts, electronics and jewellery. The 2003 results show that liquor, tobacco and beauty resisted the downturn better despite a steady decline compared with 2002. In January 2003, liquor, tobacco and beauty sales were 13.1% up year-on-year, but by December sales were down by 14.1%. The ?specialist? category registered a year-on-year decline every month in 2003, reaching a low of ?29.2% in July.

The index also measured sales per passenger, noting that although a first-quarter fall in 2003 could be attributed to a decline in traffic, subsequent falls owe more to decreasing average spend. This, said AFCOV, was a result of lower numbers of key visitors, including travellers from the US and Asia/Pacific, along with fluctuations in exchange rates.

Summarising the factors influencing French travel-retail in 2003, AFCOV cited the general decline in traffic, the fall in numbers of high-spending visitors, the strength of the euro, the poor economic climate and the heightened security in airports.

Click here to view the full results of the AFCOV Index 2003

For a full report, see DFNI February 15, out later this week.