AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 2015-2-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — The travel retailer has been awarded one of two duty free concessions in the Airport’s International Terminal, following their success in a competitive tender process in late 2014.
The win signals an exciting new chapter for both LS travel retail Pacific and Auckland Airport. This concession precipitates the expansion of LS travel retail Pacific’s Duty Free network across the Pacific, with the retailer already operating Duty Free in Adelaide, Gold Coast, Queenstown (NZ) and Noumea.
The latest version of the Aelia Duty Free concept, which has been tailored specifically for Auckland Airport, will be rolled out for the first time in the region. It is expected to boost the Airport’s duty free offer with innovative ideas for New Zealand’s premier gateway. LS travel retail Pacific will leverage its extensive vendor relationships and global experience by offering a plethora of big name brands in perfume & cosmetics, local wine, liquor and souvenirs to name a few.
The offer is based on the 3 pillars of the renewed Aelia Duty Free concept: “Here and Nowhere Else”, “Art of the Gift” and “Facilitation and Care”; 3 pillars which are perfectly aligned with the core values of Auckland International Airport’s customer strategy. LS travel retail Pacific’s vision to Intrigue, Experience and Indulge will form the backbone to this strategy.
Speaking of the news, LS travel retail Pacific’s CEO, Matthieu Mercier said, “It’s great to see our strategy for the expansion of our Duty Free business reach a significant milestone with Auckland International Airport, who have been a key partner for us since we entered the New Zealand market with our Travel Essentials concepts back in 2011.”
“The alignment, at the very early stages of the process between our vision for a renewed retail experience at Auckland Airport, enhanced by the new Aelia Duty Free concept and the airport’s ambition, has been nothing short of amazing. Our Duty Free teams have been able to give this vision both a strong element of local flavour and an experiential dimension which clearly contributed to this success. To achieve this result, we have been able to mobilise the right balance of local expertise and understanding of the specificities of the New Zealand market together with a strong involvement of the LS duty free and specialty experts across Europe and Asia Pacific.”
“Our goal now is to make it happen and to create fantastic duty free experiences that exceed passenger expectations, and I believe that our vision for Auckland Airport will achieve this and more. We are very excited to expand on our enduring partnership with Auckland Airport, and look forward to what the future will bring”.
Reinforcing these sentiments, LS travel retail Pacific’s Duty Free General Manager, Ivo Favotto said “We are delighted to be extending our duty free presence in New Zealand to the country’s main gateway at Auckland. Auckland is a fabulous city in a fabulous country and we worked hard to build an offer that honoured the uniqueness of both the city and the country, as well as its spirit of adventure. Our concept for Auckland is based on delivering unique experiences to travellers through Auckland Airport.”
“We plan to bring a number of world firsts to Auckland, as well as a range of unique experiences and a plenitude of new brands and product categories. Watch this space. I must also commend Auckland Airport and their retail team for running one of the most fair and collaborative of tender processes. We found the team great to work with (and not just because we won!), and we look forward excitedly to a long partnership with them.”
Richard Barker, Auckland Airport’s General Manager Retail and Commercial, says the company is delighted to have selected LS travel retail Pacific as one of its two duty free operators.“The selection of LS travel retail means that our passengers will be able to choose from a wide range of products and services that represent the best of New Zealand and the world.”
“We were very impressed by LS travel’s exciting retail concepts, including a number of world firsts and new brands that will be unveiled when our new international departure area opens late next year. We were equally impressed by their commitment to developing our online retail channel. We look forward to working with the LS travel retail team as we prepare for the licence’s 1 July 2015 start date.”
Aelia Duty Free will significantly increase LS travel retail Pacific’s footprint at Auckland Airport, where they already operate several Travel Essentials stores.
Notes to the editor:
About LS travel retail
Operating in more than 30 countries throughout Europe, North America, Asia and the Pacific, LS travel retail, a division of Lagardère Services, is a world leader in Travel Retail. It operates more than 4,100 stores across the world, including a presence at over 150 airports and 700 stations. It runs the largest international network of duty free and luxury, travel essentials and foodservice stores.”
Throughout Asia Pacific LS travel retail operates more than 250 outlets, partnering with over 16 airports in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and India.
Contacts:
For all media enquiries:
Janette Doolan
Corporate Communications Manager, LS travel retail Pacific
Email: janette.doolan@lsaspac.com
P: +61 2 8218 1142
Matt Mercier
CEO, LS travel retail Pacific
Email: matt.mercier@lsaspac.com
P: +61 2 8218 1105
Ivo Favotto
General Manager, Duty Free
LS travel retail Pacific
Email: ivo.favotto@lsaspac.com
P: + 61 2 8218 1146