ASUTIL 2006 opens in Chile

John Gallagher

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Two networking sessions and an opening cocktail party provided a fine start to the 10th annual ASUTIL conference, writes DFNI Spain and Latin America editor and conference co-moderator John Gallagher

The 10th annual ASUTIL conference opened yesterday with more than 200 delegates attending networking sessions and an opening cocktail party at the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Centre in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

ASUTIL secretary-general José Luis Donagaray told ravenfox.com that he was delighted with the turnout. He said: "We knew that it was difficult to beat last year's total in Buenos Aires but we are almost there and we are very happy to see the return of many of our international friends from outside the South American region."

Duty-free operators, suppliers and airport authorities from Europe and the Americas have arrived in the Chilean capital for the event, which promises a busy schedule of presentations, networking meetings and social events. After two networking sessions yesterday afternoon, the conference was officially opened in the evening with a cocktail party sponsored by Argentinian duty-free operator InterBaires and drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard.

Donagaray said that ASUTIL members had reported an encouraging first half, contributing to the upbeat mood of the conference. "Most of our member operators and suppliers have had a great start to the year with sales up everywhere. All the countries are enjoying economic growth, tourism is up and exchange rates are quite stable.

"The down side is of course the security issue surrounding flights to the US and the UK which affected sales in August. Sales have begun to recover though and we feel that with measures such as gate delivery the negative effect on sales has been countered. On Friday we will have a special session where we will review the security issue throughout the area with our friends from the International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores."