CHINA. Registration for the TFWA China’s Century Conference, being held in Sanya, Haitang Bay, Hainan from 5 to 7 March 2019, is now open. China’s leading travel retailer China Duty Free Group (CDFG) has been named as Diamond Sponsor.
TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen said: “We are delighted that China Duty Free Group is supporting our conference in Hainan as Diamond Sponsor. The event is taking place close to the CDF Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex, one of the most impressive duty free operations anywhere in the world. As such, we feel that the location for the 2019 conference is entirely appropriate.
“With the support of CDFG and our other valued sponsors, we will strive to provide delegates with another informative and enjoyable conference in China, which of course remains one of the largest and most important markets in our industry.”
The conference, which will take place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Sanya Haitang Bay, is organised by TFWA in partnership with the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA). Previous China’s Century events took place in Beijing in 2013, Shanghai in 2015 and Guangzhou in 2017.
As we noted in recent days, these are game-changing times for the travel retail industry, with China setting the pace. The government recently underlined its determination to maximise domestic consumption through a series of inter-related initiatives to support the country’s travel retail business.
These include an increase in the offshore duty free allowance for visitors to Hainan Island from CNY16,000 (US$2,300) to CNY30,000 (US$4,314) from 1 December. It follows other similar measures to stimulate domestic spending, including a big increase in airport arrivals duty free licences; and government encouragement for an expansion of CNSC’s post-arrivals duty free downtown shopping network.
Delegates for the Hainan event can book their place and find further information at www.tfwa.com.
