TFWA to focus on Asia/Pacific in 2004

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The Tax Free World Association's regional efforts are to be boosted by a new Singapore office and a dedicated sales manager for this year's TFWA Asia Pacific show

Asia/Pacific is to be the focus of the Tax Free World Association's efforts in 2004, the Association's management committee has revealed. Following the cancellation of last year's TFWA Asia Pacific show owing to the outbreak of SARS, the organisation is to place a greater emphasis on the region this year, aided by a new Singapore office to open in May.

The Association said that an Asia/Pacific office, first mooted at a management committee meeting during the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes last year, will allow it to improve its focus on the region and attract greater numbers of buyers to its Singapore show, held each year in May. TFWA also announced that it would be appointing a dedicated sales manager before this year's show to sell exhibition space and services at the 2004 event.

TFWA ceo Andrew Ford and marketing director Jean Marc Caubet are to go on a promotional tour of the region to drive key buyer numbers, and Ford is to speak at the Japan Duty Free Shops Association annual general meeting in February.

TFWA revealed that its research for the coming year would also focus on the Asia/Pacific region after members expressed ?overwhelming interest? in data on Asian nationalities in a poll conducted last year. The Association said the research was justified as the region ?has enormous growth potential and exhibits distinctive consumer characteristics which differ greatly from the more mature duty-free markets?.

The cancellation of TFWA Asia Pacific 2003 is the prinicpal factor behind the Association's Eu153,000 ($184,340) loss last year, and the management committee said that it had worked closely with its Singapore partners to minimise the impact and had launched a series of cost-cutting initiatives to reduce the deficit to its current level.