TFWA Cannes confirms Colin Powell as keynote speaker

General Colin Powell, 35-year veteran of the US Army, former Secretary of State and chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the keynote speaker at the Tax Free World Association’s (TFWA) opening conference on Monday October 27.

The TFWA says he will address issues related to leadership in challenging times.

The 30th TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, the annual duty free & travel retail global exhibition, takes place at the usual Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes on the French Riviera from October 26 to 31.

Joining him will be Luxottica chief executive officer Andrea Guerra described as one of Italy’s most esteemed industry leaders. The association says he will draw on his wealth of experience in an ever-changing global business environment.

TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen will open the conference with his customary state-of-the-industry address in which he will set the scene by summarising three decades of development of the duty free & travel retail industry, reviewing the last year in more detail and looking forward to opportunities and challenges in the months and years to come.

Two workshop sessions will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings: the first a market watch session focusing on Latin America and the second devoted to the inflight retail sector.

In 2013, more than 6,300 trade delegates attended the event, over two-thirds of them key buyers from airports, airlines, ferries, cruise ships and downtown duty free shops all over the world.

TFWA says these executives are drawn each year by the prospect of doing business with up to 500 exhibiting companies, large and small, from some 40 countries which will be displaying upwards of 3,000 premium products.