DAG RASMUSSEN
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère Travel Retail
What were the key highlights of 2022?
“Last year saw a strong recovery in air traffic and sales, despite considerable macroeconomic uncertainty and the continuation of the health crisis in China. The rebound in the travel retail industry
and our continued transformation efforts resulted in outstanding operating results. The remarkable work of our teams enabled us to mitigate the negative impacts of the complex economic environment and the supply and recruitment issues plaguing the entire industry.
In addition, we continued to expand our global network, including major strategic acquisitions in Foodservice with Marché International and HWH (Creative Table Holdings Ltd), the launch of
operations in Latin America, the rollover of major concessions, with the ADP group in particular, and the opening of a host of new
stores and concepts.
Lastly, our operational excellence and the commitment of our teams received industry recognition through a large number of prizes, including the FAB Awards, Moodies Awards and DFNI-Frontier Awards.”
Which major CSR initiatives were rolled out in 2022?
After raising the level of ambition of our CSR strategy in 2021, in 2022 we started to take action.
In line with the low-carbon trajectory set at Group level for 2030 (30% reduction in emissions across all scopes), we signed up to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, starting with a reduction in
our Scopes 1 & 2 direct emissions, in keeping with the 2015 Paris Agreement pathway to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Lagardère Travel Retail is aiming to transition to green and decarbonised energy for all operations by the end of 2023 and, as a last resort, to offset any unavoidable residual emissions.
We have also made considerable progress in implementing our CSR commitments in our stores, from materials and furnishings through to our actual product offering. We have also developed concepts that are dedicated to promoting local craftspeople and expertise in several countries.”
What is the outlook for 2023?
“The travel retail market is in a phase of in-depth transformation and our organisational model with three business segments – Travel Essentials, Duty Free & Fashion and Foodservice – is enabling us to make the most of the opportunities that arise. Our focus will be on converting the developments in 2022 into genuine performance gains, successfully integrating our latest acquisitions and continuing the dynamic development of our worldwide network. Nevertheless, we need to approach 2023 with the utmost caution, given the continuation of the very uncertain economic, operational and geopolitical environment.
This year will also mark the completion of our LEaP Forward transformation programme, and we are confident that we will achieve the goals we have set. Our priority will therefore be to
convert the LEaP initiatives into sustainable models and working methods.
In addition, we will continue to work closely with our concession grantors and brand partners to better meet passenger expectations regarding digitalisation and more responsible and authentic experiences.”