IAADFS and ASUTIL Celebrate Successful 2021 Summit of the Americas – A Virtual Experience

Washington, DC and Montevideo, Uruguay, April 28, 2021 – IAADFS and ASUTIL express their satisfaction with the results from the 2021 Summit of the Americas – A Virtual Experience, which took place online April 5-9 and was organized in association with The Moodie Davitt Report.

IAADFS and ASUTIL are appreciative of the support shown by exhibitors, sponsors, attendees, and the designated media partners – and of course the fantastic work done by the teams at The Moodie Davitt Report and FILTR Qingwa, the official virtual stand contractor and designer of the visuals used for the virtual environment. “During this difficult COVID-19 period, it was important for us to provide an opportunity for our industry to come together through a cost-effective and user-friendly platform to connect with each other and learn in anticipation of the pandemic recovery that we are all anxiously awaiting,” commented IAADFS President and CEO Michael Payne. José Luis Donagaray, ASUTIL Secretary-General, added, “The excellent sessions featured in the Knowledge Hub gave a huge amount of very important information to help keep our colleagues updated and better prepared for when traffic levels and sales begin to improve.”

This virtual event, a first for both IAADFS and ASUTIL, featured a virtual Exhibition Hub populated with an array of exhibitors representing nearly all categories in the industry. Attendees enjoyed informative and entertaining presentations in the Engagement Lounge, as well as a virtual happy hour. A cornerstone of the event was a robust five-day education program in the Knowledge Hub with world-class speakers from within and outside of the duty free and travel retail industry.

Overall participation in the 2021 Virtual Summit was strong, with more than 2,700 total expo visits and more than 10,000 total stand views, 60% of which converted to deeper views of stand content material such as videos, presentations, downloads, and direct connections with the staff who were representing the stands in the virtual platform. Stand exhibitors saw an average of 338 visitors to their stands during the course of the event. The 21 sessions in the Knowledge Hub were viewed a cumulative total of 2,300 times as of April 10, 2021, with additional session views taking place during the 30-day encore period that began after the official close of the 2021 Virtual Summit on April 9.

All the presentations can be seen in https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMoodieDavittReport/videos

The virtual stands and recordings from the Knowledge Hub sessions remain available to registered attendees through the end of the 30-day encore period.

Press inquiries should be directed to IAADFS President and CEO Michael Payne at +1-202-367-1184 or ASUTIL Secretary-General José Luis Donagaray at +598-2-623-1842.

About ASUTIL

ASUTIL was constituted in 1995 by Mercosur operators in defense of the interests of the industry facing the creation of this free trade area. It has participated in different activities in the countries of the member operators, carried out the first study together with IAADFS of the industry in the South American continent and carried out the first harmonized study of customs rules for Mercosur and Chile. In 1997 the first ASUTIL conference was developed in Rio de Janeiro, and unlike others in the industry the focus was on networking time between operators and suppliers and conferences of specialists in different areas. The active participation of operators sharing data and plans is what has led to ASUTIL being a reference in the industry for suppliers and operators. Visit www.asutil.org for more information.

About IAADFS

The International Association of Airport and Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) is a duty free and travel retail association representing the Americas and Caribbean with more than 350 member companies. These store operators and suppliers came together for the first time in 1968 to promote the airport duty free industry as an important segment of international business. Visit www.iaadfs.org for more information on activities where operators of airport and duty free stores and their suppliers can exchange information on products. The leadership of IAADFS also serves as a collective voice in advocating for the airport and duty free industry on common issues affecting the membership.