Nordic Travel Retail Group issues call for Baltic members

Lorna Strickland

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The Scandinavian trade body looks to widen its membership

The Nordic Travel Retail Group (NTRG) is issuing a call for more members, especially from travel-retail companies in the Baltic States. Speaking at the Nordic Travel Retail Seminar earlier this month chairman Erik Thomsen told delegates that Northern Europe's travel-retail industry needs to pull together under the framework of the NTRG.
 
"There are only 25m people in the region and much of the NTRG's work is cross-border and not limited to national work," Thomsen stressed. "We need new members. A larger group from across the whole area is needed to maintain a high level of activity and to be able to follow closely the constant development and threats to our industry."

He stated that to date the Group hasn't attracted any members from the Baltics, despite the region's reliance on ferry traffic to and from Scandinavia.
 
"We are encouraged to see that 44 member companies find it important to closely follow developments across the Nordic region, and eight of these joined in the past year. But we still believe that it is crucial to have a strong group with a Nordic/Baltic approach.
 
"This is needed in order to convince the Baltic States of the importance of a travel-retail business organisation and to get them under the European Travel Retail Council umbrella."