Change of focus for Danish association

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The Danish Duty Free & Travel Retail Association gets a new name and a new brief

Regional trade body Danish Duty Free & Travel Retail Association has decided to widen its brief to welcome members from neighbouring countries without representative associations. At its annual general meeting last week the organisation voted to rename itself the Nordic Travel Retail Group, aiming to ?enhance representational coverage in the Nordic region? and ?to strengthen the industry's ability to delay and offset threats to the industry from legislators and others?. The other stated aims of the new group are ?to enhance networks by creating a communication junction for the industry in the Nordic region?, and ?to enable more extensive industry initiatives difficult for one single country to undertake, such as market research?.

Former Copenhagen Airports executive Alan Bork will chair the new group. He said: ?The fact is that the Nordic travel-retail market is very much a cross-border business. We share common issues and face common threats. With this move we are providing the industry in the Nordic region with a representational body that covers the whole region and leaves nobody out.?

Bork said that the Baltic states could be considered part of the Nordic region, and invited operators from these countries to join the new group. ?In particular they will be able to benefit from [other members'] experiences post-1999 from implementing the travel-retail concept in place of duty-free,? said Bork.

The new group will meet at the Nordic Travel Retail Seminar, to be held in Stockholm on June 8-9. For details and to book your place at the seminar, visit www.rejsehandel.dk or contact info@reijsehandel.dk.