The global tourism business continues to face headwinds on multiple fronts, whether it be ongoing conflicts, rising geopolitical tensions, soaring operational costs, or the spiralling impact of climate change. Yet, despite these significant challenges, 2025 is shaping up to be a bumper year for many tourism-related markets, underlining the sector’s resilience and providing comfort to the travel retail business. According to figures from the World…

Bartenders who lived through the muddling and mint-slapping of the mid-2000s may not want to hear this, but the Mojito is rumoured to be on the verge of a comeback. That said, depending on where you are, it might not have gone anywhere. Either way, there’s little doubt that the fortunes of unaged, light and white rum are inextricably linked with that of cocktails,…

Various legends lay claim to the origins of amaretto, including that of an almond-flavoured liqueur being gifted as a love token in the Italian town of Saronno in the 1500s. However, what’s not disputed is the subsequent rooting of the liqueur in Italian history and tradition, becoming one of the classic digestivos.  Domestically, amaretto is typically consumed neat, yet internationally the Amaretto Sour…

The Vodka Martini on paper is simple – just two ingredients with a choice of garnish. But there are seemingly endless variables which affect flavour, including temperature, dilution, ratio of vermouth and even glassware. But for this piece, the focus is on the heart of the drink, the vodka. In this year’s edition of Drinks International’s Cocktail Report, the Vodka Martini was the highest climber.

Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – has been labelled the “generation that doesn’t drink”. Yet in July this year International Wine & Spirits Research (IWSR) released a report suggesting that Gen Z’s drinking habits are now largely falling in line with the broader population. What transpired were news headlines such as “Gen Z is drinking as much as older generations”,…

Drake’s One Dance has more than three billion downloads on Spotify, meaning the Canadian has rapped the word Hennessy about 20 billion times on the one platform. Pete Doherty, the former frontman of British indie band The Libertines, released a song called Calvados in spring this year, which at time of writing had 370,000 hits. This gulf in listens mirrors the global reach of cognac…

In 2024, the prosecco designation recorded growth of 7.1%, and in the first six months of 2025 alone has seen 6.3% growth. This rise hasn’t come from established consumers of prosecco but emerging markets around the world. Aside from its main markets of the US, UK, Germany, France and Belgium, Russia has seen growth of 50.1%, Slovakia 25.6 %, Greece 45%, Denmark 41.4%, Croatia 69.9%…