France’s Lagardère Travel Retail has wrapped up a considerable package in Cambodia where, for the first time in Asia- Pacific, the company will work its three core business lines—duty- completely and fashion, food service, and travel essentials—using a profit- sharing model. Lagardère Travel Retail, part of media giant Lagardère Group, and a local partner HSC Group, the operator of Burger King and Paris Baguette franchises in Cambodia (among others ), have signed a 12- year contract with Cambodia Airport Investment Company ( CAIC ) to manage the retail and dining operations at the Techo International Airport, around 15 miles south of Phnom Penh, the capital city.
The main terminal facilities for Techo is being designed by British engineers Foster + Partners, who are a 2,600-hectare brownfield site. According to its owner Frances Vinci Airports, it is scheduled to open in 2025 and may ultimately take over the already-existing Phnom Penh International Airport, which handled nearly four million customers in 2023.
Techo International is being developed by CAIC, a joint venture between Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation ( OCIC ) Group, a diversified conglomerate, and the country’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation. In January, OCIC gave the financial and dining capitulation.
The profit-share agreement is a significant step in Lagardère Travel Retail’s development programs for the place, even though the contract means Lagardère Travel Retail will be able to manage its second direct duty-free operation in Asia. This design” creates a real partnership between operator and airport,” according to the retailer, demonstrating CAIC’s modern mindset as the region’s second landlord to employ it.”
A better unit for product testing?
Importantly, such a model is more flexible than typical minimum annual guarantee ( MAG ) contracts, which can encourage airports to simply’ take the money and run.’ A revenue share may help with the testing of new company and product offers, as well as technologies over the 12-year word, with the airport playing a more active role.
Lagardère believes the income- sharing model is reshape” the codes of the travel financial industry”. Séverine Lanthier, the agency’s Asia COO and general strategy and development agent, considers the package to be a new book for the merchant. This arrangement opens up new opportunities for our Asian procedures, she said. We will advance South Asian and international travelers ‘ access to store and food services using a profit-sharing design.
In 2025, Lagardère Travel Retail and HSC Group did run 34 shops in Techo International Airport covering 70, 000 square foot. The array of outlets may include a large- end Aelia Duty Free store, and a March é food hall, plus cross concepts, including an EL&, N café—a lifestyle venue with modern pop- ups, and ‘ Le Connoisseur’, a destination for great dining, liquor, and tobacco. A main Aelia Duty Free store will be one of 34 units operated by Lagardère Travel Retail and HSC…]+ ] Group at Techo Airport. Lagardère Travel RetailGlobal brands, Relay and Discover, will be operated in partnership with Monument Books. In addition to physical stores, Lagardère will implement an e- commerce strategy and “digital immersive experiences” in line with CAIC’s ambitions.
The partnership between Lagardère and HSC Group should result in” significant added value for frequent travelers traveling to and from Phnom Penh,” according to CAIC director Oknha Charles Vann.
Elsewhere in Asia, Lagardère Travel Retail runs over 500 stores in Asian travel retail locations, a small share of the over 5, 120 stores it handles in airports, railway stations, and other concessions in over 40 countries. Last year, the company generated €6.6 billion in sales ( including 100 % of JV operations ).
Due to sell-offs in the media/publishing arm, the retail business is becoming a more prominent part of the parent Lagardère Group. After receiving an offer from the luxury conglomerate at the end of February, the group’s board announced in May that it supported continuing exclusive negotiations with LVMH Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton for the sale of Paris Match magazine. By the end of July, a deal is anticipated.
In Q1 2024, Lagardère Travel Retail grew by 13.6 % versus Lagardère Publishing’s 0.8 % with the retail arm’s sales now more than double that of the media business.
