TFWA conference announces speakers

Ban Ki-Moon, Mary Robinson and David Rowan will all join president Erik Juul-Mortensen on stage at this year’s TFWA World Exhibition and Conference in Cannes.

The TFWA celebrates the 70^th anniversary of the opening of the first airport duty free store in Shannon in Ireland this year. Since then the global duty free and travel retail business is now worth just under US$64 billion.

Mary Robinson was the first female president of Ireland.

Ban Ki-Moon, who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations from 2007 to 2016, will examine the new global landscape, stressing the importance of calm leadership.

Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and UN high commissioner for human rights from 1997 to 2002, has been credited for playing a central role in building peace in Ireland. In 2009 she won the US Presidential Medal of Freedom for her efforts to advance human rights and end poverty.

Finally, David Rowan, editor-at-large of technology magazine Wired UK will share his insight into the influence of technology on businesses and everyday life. In particular, he will focus on the duty free and travel industry from the viewpoint of a tech start-up and analyse how technological advances will alter traveller behaviour.

Commenting on the announcement, TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen said: “This year’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference speakers are especially well placed to explain the forces that will shape our industry and landscape in the future.”

“In the year of our 70^th anniversary, it is more important than ever that we celebrate our history, but also equip ourselves for the challenges of the years and decades to come”.

Journalist and presenter of BBC World’s current affairs programme Hardtalk, Stephen Sackur, will once again moderate the conference.

The exhibition will run from 1 to 6 October 2017 with the conference taking place on 2 October. More information can be found here.