October 2023

CANNES, France — A latest normal. That's what travel retail beauty executives are grappling with and focused on through the recent TFWA World Exhibition and Conference. The Cannes, France-based event, held from Oct. 1 to five, was fittingly dubbed “Open World” by trade show organizers. Every little thing is now open to discussion and evaluation, as travel retail resembles nothing prefer it did in 2019, pre-coronavirus pandemic. “The patron doesn't want the identical thing as before,” said Gwendoline Bommier, director merchant perfumes and cosmetics, duty free global at Lagardère Travel Retail. There's that, coupled with today’s volatile geopolitical and economic contexts making for an uneven channel recovery, amongst other aspects. “The world has shifted dramatically since 2019,” said Alexandre Callens, president global travel retail...