The TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference 2015, an event for the duty free & travel retail industry in the Asia Pacific, closed on 14th May in Singapore after a very successful week. The organization reports that duty free & travel retail sales in the Asia Pacific region are on the rise.

Duty free & travel retail sales in the Asia Pacific region in 2014 totalled US$23.6 billion, up 5.5% on the previous year, according to provisional figures from independent analysts Generation Research, which ranks the region top in the global industry with 38% of total sales. The second largest region is Europe, followed by Americas, Middle East and Africa.

At the conference, occupied exhibition space increased by 9% over 2014. The 2015 show featured 292 exhibiting companies, of which 73 were new to the show.

There were 2,655 trade visitors that attended the show, which is equivalent to last year. Visitors were from 1,053 companies, which is a 3% increase over last year,  of which more than a third were considered “key buyers.”

“I was very impressed by the quality of the stands, the assortment of products on display and the energy around the show,” said Erik Juul-Mortensen, President TFWA. “This year has not been easy for the industry in this region and, in light of that, we are really very satisfied with the number of companies present and the quality of the visitors.”