CANADA/INTERNATIONAL. Visitors to the sixth Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference, which will run in Toronto on 21-23 June, will have the opportunity to take a guided tour of Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The FAB Airport Tour will provide FAB 2017 guests with a chance to gain an in-depth look at this year’s event host.
FAB 2017 itself is wholly organised by The Moodie Davitt Report. FAB, which is dedicated to travel-related food & beverage, attracts senior representatives from the world’s leading airports, railway station operators and F&B concessionaires to network with industry peers, share insights and celebrate best practice in this burgeoning sector.
The airport tour will commence at 12:15pm on 21 June, from the FAB 2017 official venue The Ritz Carlton hotel, with delegates driven by bus to Toronto Pearson. For guests already at the airport, the tour will commence from 1pm from The FAB 2017 Welcome Desk located in Lounge 15 of Terminal 1 pre-security.
Luggage storage facilities will be made available to all FAB delegates joining the tour directly at the airport, and transport will be provided back to The Ritz Carlton once the tour has concluded.
Delegates who opt to take the tour should ensure they take their passports for security purposes.
On the afternoon of Friday 23 June, following the conclusion of this year’s FAB, a further Foodie event will be offered to all delegates. Additional details will follow shortly.
Deadline for all awards entries extended to Friday 31 March
Every year FAB hosts awards to celebrate the best in travel-related dining around the world, and this year they feature several new and exciting categories that put the emphasis firmly on people, product, creativity and innovation.
Due to popular demand, the deadline for entries has been extended to Friday 31 March.
Nominations for the 16 categories can be made here. They are:
- Airport Coffee, Non-alcoholic Beverage Shop of the Year
- Airport ‘Food to Go’ Offer of the Year
- Airport Bar of the Year
- Airport Wine Bar of the Year
- Airport Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year
- Airport Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
- Airport Food Hall of the Year
- F&B Marketing & Promotional Campaign of the Year
- Individual F&B Offer of the Year in a Railway Station
- Airport Food & Beverage Offer Best Reflecting Sense of Place
- Airport Food & Beverage Offer of the Year
- #AiroftheDog – The Great Airport Cocktail Award
- ‘La spirito de vojaĝado’ Award (‘The spirit of travel’)
- New Food & Beverage Concept of the Year
- Customer Service Initiative of the Year
- Food & Beverage Disruptor of the Year
Heavyweight speaker line-up
A heavyweight line-up of speakers is in place for this year’s FAB Conference.
Speakers for FAB 2017 include:
- Several of North America’s most celebrated chefs, among them Paul Wahlberg (founder of Wahlburgers) and Massimo Capra (Boccone Trattoria). Another renowned name from Canada’s vibrant culinary scene will be revealed shortly.
- Greater Toronto Airport Authority President & Chief Executive Officer Howard Eng
- Greater Toronto Airport Authority Vice President of Customer and Terminal Services Scott Collier
- Copenhagen Airports Director of Airport Sales Lise Ryevad
- London Gatwick Head of Retail Rachel Bulford
- AIRMALL USA President & CEO Ben Zandi
- Areas President Pedro Fontana
- OTG CEO Rick Blatstein
- HMS Host President Steve Johnson
- SSP America CEO Michael Svagdis
- New York JFK T4 (JFKIAT) VP Concession Management Ed Midgley
- Paradies Lagardère CEO Gregg Paradies
- Westfield Airports Vice President Leasing Iris Messina
- Vancouver Airport Authority Director, Commercial Services Sue Stiene
- Emirates Leisure Retail Chief Operating Officer Kevin Zajax
- Smart Design President & CEO Nick Baker
- J.D. Power Director Airport Practice Michael Taylor
- San Francisco International Airport Director Revenue Development & Management Cheryl Nashir
- GRAB CEO Mark Bergsrud
- HMSHost Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer Sarah Naqvi
- Kallpod CEO Gabriel Weisz
- Culinary Tourism Alliance President Rebecca MacKenzie
- Marqette General Manager Michael Thornton
- EMCAT – Airport F&B Alliance Managing Director Lars Crone
- Lite Bites Foods Director Rohit Aggalwar
Other speakers will be added to the programme in coming days.
Travel restaurateurs OTG, SSP, Areas, Autogrill and HMSHost are Platinum Partners of this year’s FAB Conference. Other sponsors include Travel Food Services, The Restaurant Group and Lagardère Travel Retail.
The event is being held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Toronto. Click here for hotel and conference registration (the full conference programme will be loaded this week).
