TFWA CANNES PREVIEW: JOHN RIMMER INTERVIEW “A majority of the exhibitors from


last year have confirmed they want to take part in 2018 and we want to add new faces to ensure it is a broad reflection of the new ideas that are out there.” Encouraged by the ‘pretty positive’


response to the TFWA Digital Village last year the priority is to ensure it remains relevant and fresh. Rimmer comments: “Everybody


in the industry agrees that one of the areas we need to progress in is engaging travellers in new ways and ensuring we are part of the digital conversation and ecosystem at various points in the traveller’s journey. “This was something we felt


strongly we should reflect at the Cannes event.” Following last year’s success, the


TFWA has made a couple of changes relating to timing in particular. “In 2017, we didn’t want it to clash


too much with the main event so we opened it on the Wednesday. This prompted negative comments from some people who wanted to attend earlier.” “We have tweaked that this


year so it opens on the Tuesday morning (2 October) and finishes on Friday midday. “It opens a day earlier which


will give people who were in the exhibition that day the chance to go and visit. Hopefully that will drive a bit of footfall.”


Audience quality Last year, over 6,800 visitors attended the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, an increase of +6% on the previous year, but numbers are not everything and the main focus is the quality of audience, according to Rimmer. That said, he was keen to point


out that overall visitor numbers have steadily increased year on year and that further growth is expected in 2018. He explains: “The delegations


Unlock the full potential...


the audience is crucial.” The real challenge facing the


TFWA in Cannes is ensuring it responds positively to the demand for exhibition space. “This is difficult as we are very constrained in terms of space,” emphasises Rimmer. “We have managed to integrate


some new space into the show this year, but there will be a couple of new things and some interesting new exhibitors coming in. “This is obviously good news for


us as we want to add some newness and want the big names to be there. “Taking everything into account


we are gradually getting there. It is a question of really building on the success of the event and responding to the needs of exhibitors.”


70th anniversary campaign A personal highlight for Rimmer was the success of the global TFWA marketing drive celebrating the industry’s 70th anniversary last year. The campaign was made available


for use by business partners and stakeholders worldwide and featured a series of six illustrative graphical adverts based around a number of core messages. “I was personally very happy with


the way that turned out. I felt for a long time as an industry we are somewhat misunderstood by the wider public. “The fact that duty free and


travel retail revenues really do drive improvements to infrastructure in


John Rimmer, TFWA


travel and aviation is not always known or understood.” The industry’s 70th anniversary


gave TFWA the opportunity to talk about this, recalls Rimmer. “We were really pleased with the take-up. “We had a lot of big airports and


retailers that took on the campaign and used it in their points of sale. “In terms of the geographical


spread it was very varied. All of the regions all got on board in different places. I would especially like to cite Neutral in Uruguay which was the first operator to join the campaign. “It then quickly spread to places


as diverse as Fiji, Singapore, London, Egypt and various other places. “It was exciting to see the


campaign deployed like this in all these different locations. We are really grateful to the partners around the world who took part.” On a broader level, wherever


possible, we should as an industry talk more about the benefits DF&TR brings in terms of the travel experience and what the revenues generated enable the travel industry to achieve. This campaign was a great way to get that message across.” «


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will fluctuate depending on the strategies of different companies at the time, but the key is to ensure exhibitors are meeting the decision makers, the retailers are there and that the event remains relevant to the whole industry. The quality of


SEPTEMBER 2018 www.trbusiness.com/subscriptions The TFWA received a 'pretty positive' response to the inaugural Digital Village in Cannes last year. TRBUSINESS 25


The conference will be moderated by Stephen Sackur, journalist and presenter of current affairs programme HARDTalk on BBC World.


“Obviously we will be hearing from Erik who will give his own perspective on the current trajectory of the industry along with the latest available data.”


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