Managing Director, Husband Retail Consulting

Husband Retail Consulting is a Hong Kong based luxury retail project planning and leasing company advising luxury retail property owners in Asia and Europe.

Founded by Paul Husband in 1998, Husband Retail brings some of the world's leading luxury brands and property owners together for projects in emerging markets such as China and India and modern and historic retail developments in mature markets such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Recent projects include the leasing of Emporio New Delhi, India's first luxury retail centre and Bellavita in Taipei, which will house the flagship stores of Hermes, Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels and the Michelin starred restaurant L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

The company is planning a large luxury retail project in Tverskaya St, Moscow to open in 2012 and has recently been appointed to plan and lease the site of the former gardens of the British Embassy in Bangkok for the country's largest retail group; Central Retail Corporation. Husband Retail has been the retail consultant to Hongkong Land since 1998, the primary property owner in the centre of Hong Kong's Central business district and operator of one of the world's largest portfolios of luxury retail brands.

In London, Husband Retail has been a consultant and joint agent on the Capital & Counties owned Covent Garden estate since 2007.

Paul Husband was formerly the marketing manager of Swire Properties Pacific Place development in Hong Kong, is the author of "the Cult of The Luxury Brand" published by Nicholas Brealey of London in 2006 and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centres and the Urban Land Institute.

CEO, The Lindstrom Company

Martin Lindstrom is the CEO and Chairman of LINDSTROM Company and Chairman of Buyology Inc ( New York ), as well as BRAND Sense Agency ( London ). He is a trusted advisor to numerous Fortune 100 companies and internationally renowned organizations including McDonald’s Corporation, Nestlé, American Express, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft Corporation, PepsiCo, The Walt Disney Company, Unilver, GlaxoSmithKline, LEGO, Nokia, and Yellow Pages, amongst others.

Martin Lindstrom began his career with international giant, BBDO after graduating from the Academy of Advertising . In 1994 he went on to form BBDO Interactive Europe. Three years later he founded BBDO Interactive Asia, both agencies growing to become the largest Internet solution companies in their respective regions. By age 30, Lindstrom had been appointed global COO of British Telecom/Looksmart. Working out of London and Sydney , his primary role was to establish a global operation with offices across 18 countries.

Martin is the author of 5 books, including collaborative works with industry icons such as Don Peppers, Martha Rogers, Paco Underhill , Patricia Seybold and Philip Kotler. His book, BRAND Sense (Simon & Schuster) was acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as “…one of the five best marketing books ever published.” He is a 2009 recipient of TIME Magazine’s “World's 100 Most Influential People”.

President, ETRC

Frank O’Connell retired as Director Retail, Dublin Airport Authority at the end of July 2008 and has taken on the role of Director European Retail Affairs on behalf of the Dublin Airport Authority.  He holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Stirling and is a graduate of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. Frank has acquired over 15 years of experience in the advertising business while holding several Art and Creative Director positions before joining Aer Rianta in 1979. Mr O’Connell is a member of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH. He is President of the Paris based European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) and represents Europe on the Duty Free World Council, is co-author of the book “European Airport Retailing, Growth Strategies for the next Millennium” and has written extensively on airport retailing.

Executive Director, International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores

Michael has served as Executive Director of IAADFS for 14 years. In this role he has oversight for implementing the organizations activities including its advocacy/government relations program and overall responsibility for the Duty Free Show of the America’s Trade Show.

Michael’s more than 30 years of government, association management and convention and trade show experience has included work in health care, manufacturing and the professional services sector.  Prior to joining IAADFS, Michael held a number of positions within the U.S. government, including Deputy to the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs of the U.S. Department of Commerce. His specific areas of expertise include international trade, environmental affairs and infrastructure development.

Michael is active in the global travel industry and is a former chairman of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Chair of the PCMA Educational Foundation and has served as an Advisory Board Member for several hotels and convention bureaus including Hilton, Starwood and Fairmont Hotels.

Senior Associate, Nyras Capital

After building his reputation working for a number of leading financial institutions and spending some 20 years as a top rated analyst in the Cty of London, Chris established himself as an independent aviation analyst and advisor in 2002. He has served as special advisor on aviation policy issues to the UK Government, to Parliamentary Committees and to the Civil Aviation Authority; he has also advised a number of airlines as well asmajor airframe manufacturers and aircraft lessors on strategic development issues.

He has carried out assignments involving business plan assessments for major carriers on behalf of banks and investors; in-depth reviews of prospects for European airline consolidation; evaluations of major international airlines on behalf of potential investors; and strategic reviews of airlines undergoing structural change. He works at senior management and Board level.

Chris writes a monthly column for Airline Business Magazine, is a senior visiting fellow at the University of Surrey , and regularly lectures at the London School of Economics and Oxford University . He is also a judge on a number of the key Industry panels.

President, APTRA
Managing Director King Power Group ( Duty Free and Travel Retail) Hong Kong

Managing Director, King Power Group (Duty Free and Travel Retail) Hong Kong Before joining King Power in April 2003, he spent over twelve years with the Weitnauer Group (now Dufry) as Chief Operating Offi cer Asia Pacific and Middle East, Managing Director for Wietnauer Singapore and General Manager for Scotts Weitnauer, Travellers Duty Free and Sincere Watch Duty Free. Between 1984 and 1990 Sunil was General Manager Duty Free at the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). He is a board member of companies in Singapore, UK, France and New Zealand and was elected President of APTRA in 2007.

International Sales Manager, TFWA

After graduating from the European Business School , Paris in 2004, Mathieu started his career working for the NBA, the National Basketball Association in the Sponsorship Sales EMEA department.

He subsequently joined Reed Exhibitions France, the leading trade show and event organiser worldwide as Sales Manager in charge of a wide range of events. He joined TFWA in 2006 in the commercial department to head up sales for TFWA Asia Pacific & Gate One2One exhibition. He was promoted to the role of International Sales Manager in June 2009.