The Aviation industry is back and in such circumstances the TAX FREE WORLD ASSOCIATION organized between 2nd – 6th of October the 37th Duty Free & Travel Retail Global Summit, Exhibition and Conference in Cannes, France.

Heraklion International Airport supported and engaged to the Conference with the presence of our CEO Mr Athanasios Vourdas, as well as our Chief Strategy Officer, Dr Ayca Kolukisa, our Dpt Chief Development Officer, Mr Theodoros Sbiliris and the Property and Consumers Director, Mrs Loukia Kotsibou. The overall experience was amplified with the presence and collaboration with Mr Costas Trivizas, an outstanding member of the DF and retail community who was newly appointed as elected President of the Hellenic Travel Trade Confederation.

The event hosted a total of 5,983 visitors up to midday on Thursday 6th October – a figure that is up 77% from 3,373 in 2021 while the main focus was on “adapting into a new world” of commercial retail including workshops and presentations on new trends such as digitization, metaverse, e-commerce, offline and online services as well as the increasing portfolio of traditional products or the famous world class brands.

Topics for discussion in panels included the evolution of the airport retail business model, new customer trends and spending patterns, changes to the airport retail mix, and the integration of digital into the commercial offer. Further to this during the Innovation workshop the latest technological solutions that are helping brands and retailers engage travellers in new ways were presented. The Innovation in Action workshop put the spotlight on some of those new initiatives, and explored how new tech is helping shape positive passenger experiences in the post-pandemic world.