In "Leading Travel and Tourism Retail: How Businesses Can Sustainably Capture New Profits in Shopping Tourism," ChangeGroup CEO Sacha Zackariya shares insights and expertise through detailed strategies and tactics to capitalize on business growth opportunities, as applicable to established brands as they are to newcomers.
Zackariya has over 30 years of experience working within travel and tourism and over this time has developed an understanding of the wants and expectations of travelers, and when, where and why they choose to spend money. The world of travel and tourism retail is a complex one, yet Zackariya and his family have been successfully navigating the sector for decades through foreign currency and financial services provider ChangeGroup.
Zackariya delves into a number of important and relevant industry topics, covering everything from the modern-day traveler’s desire for personal experiences and the importance of travel cash, to human talent management and the role of technology and data in the retail space.
In addition to Zackariya sharing his own knowledge and experiences, "Leading Travel and Tourism Retail" also delivers fruitful insights through a series of interviews. Sacha picks the brains of some of the most highly regarded names in the industry, offering a unique glimpse behind the inner workings of some of the best-known brands in the world.
Industry leaders featured in the book include the likes of Ravi Thakran, Group Chairman of LVMH Asia, Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick Airport and Andrea d'Avack, President of the CHANEL Foundation among others.
Zackariya said: “My position at ChangeGroup has given me a unique insight into the travel and spending behaviors of millions of tourists throughout the globe. For three decades, I have had been deeply fascinated by the ways in which shoppers choose to spend the billions in cash ChangeGroup exchanges for people. I am lucky enough to have been able to observe these patterns through our tax refunding service, and as a result of people using our foreign exchange ATMs at various stages of their journey.
“Writing ‘Leading Travel and Tourism Retail’, I have embraced this passion and curiosity by carrying out extensive research to provide a 360 view of the entire industry, with the aim of creating a reference guide for brands and retailers as well as landlords and airports.
“The travel and tourism industry represents 10% of global GDP, yet this is the first book to explore all sales channels within tourism, from high streets to airports to resorts. The intention has been to use my role as author and researcher to act as a guide to all sectors of the industry. I have been able to achieve this, not only by drawing from my own experiences, but by picking the brains of some of people behind tourism and travel retail’s biggest successes.
“‘Leading Travel and Tourism Retail’ allows its readers to both deepen their understanding of how to adapt to international travellers’ range of needs and identify opportunities for business growth within the industry. It is a must-have book for anyone wanting to drive profits.”
