ASUTIL 2003: day two round-up

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The second day of the ASUTIL 2003 conference featured presentations from leading regional operators, airports and suppliers including ASUR, Brasif and Allied Domecq, as well as recognising the outstanding career of JTI sales director Latin America Celestino Prado with the ASUTIL Lifetime Achievement Award

ASUTIL 2003: day two round-up

One of the strongest ASUTIL conferences ever concluded on Friday with speakers from key regional retailers, leading suppliers and local airport authority ASUR contributing to six lively sessions, enhanced by strong audience participation.

Manuel Gutierrez, commercial director at Mexican airport operator ASUR, gave the opening presentation, and highlighted the need for close communication between concessionaires and airport operators to maximise revenues for both parties. Gutierrez stressed the importance of local flavour in the shopping experience at airports, an element backed up by a session on destination merchandise, one of the fast-growing niche sectors in Latin American duty-free.

Brasif operations director Fabiano Vivacqua related the Brazilian operator's success with its range of local products sourced by Brex. Arturo Reyes, retail director at Mexican arts and crafts retailer Los Cinco Soles, went on to explain the success that his company has had in its airport shops in Cancun, Cozumel and Merida as well as on cruise piers in Cozumel. The conclusion of both retailers was that money could be made as long as the business was run in a truly commercial fashion. Vivacqua insisted that the revenue obtained was incremental and did not cannibalise other categories.

Nadine Heubel of Hugo Boss and Arnaud de Volontat of Longchamp threw the spotlight onto the fashion business in travel-retail, before Renzo Pontiggia of Aerolineas Argentinas briefed the audience on the current state of the aviation business and problems in inflight sales in Latin America. De Volontat stressed the importance of price in attracting new customers to the fashion market in duty-free, while Heubel said that for a brand such as Hugo Boss, building a presence in the local market was important before embarking into airport retail.

Enrique Urioste of InterBaires, Andy Consuegra of Allied Domecq and Nicolas Urioste of Bright Star addressed the keys to success in managing the operator-supplier relationship. Both operators and suppliers highlighted the need for constant, clear and concise communication between both parties to ensure that clearly defined objectives can be met.

In the conference's final session, the ASUTIL board members gave the delegates an upbeat assessment of the immediate future. ASUTIL vice-president Julio Lopez of Aldeasa stressed ASUTIL's desire to work more closely with other associations. Within the Mercosur region, the big challenge for ASUTIL is harmonising allowances between the key countries for all travellers. Aldeasa president Jose Fernandez Olano closed the conference with a message of hope that the region's recession had ended and stronger sales would be experienced by all operators in the second half of the year.

Delegates to the conference also honoured one of the regional industry's longest-serving figures when it presented Japan Tobacco International sales director Latin America Celestino Prado with the ASUTIL Lifetime Achievement Award. Prado recently celebrated 30 years of service with RJ Reynolds and JTI, all of them in the duty-free business, and has been involved in all ASUTIL's activities since the association was created.

He told TRW:  ?I am totally shocked, but pleased at the same time, to receive this award. There are many people who deserve this more than me. But the award is greatly appreciated and I will share this with the many friends in Reynolds/JTI I have worked with in Central and South America over the years.?

A full conference report will appear in a future issue of DFNI.