As the duty free industry heads to Singapore this month to attend the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition (May 10-14), the region appears relatively well placed to weather the shocks of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Asia is not immune to higher ticket prices due to soaring jet fuel costs, of course, and intercontinental traffic between Asia and Europe has dropped considerably due to…

Welcome to 2026 and the Year of the Horse, a Chinese zodiac sign synonymous with progress and vitality. Yet whether the coming year in travel retail turns out to be more of a trot than a healthy canter remains to be seen. With normal supplies resuming in Chinese duty-free stores, Cognac brands will certainly be hoping for a better year and have once…

As 2025 draws to a close and the holiday travel period gets underway in earnest, hard-working travel retail executives will be hoping for a positive end to what has been another turbulent year. Many of them will get that wish. Despite heightened geopolitical tensions, seemingly endless tit-for-tat tariff spats between trading blocs, and bitter conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, demand for international travel…

Spare a thought for travellers caught up in a spate of drone-related incidents at European airports this September, such as those in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Munich, which caused considerable ­flight delays, diversions and cancellations. In recent months, other European countries, including Belgium, Romania, Estonia, and Lithuania, have also reported drone overflights, sometimes near military sites. Such incidents have been widely perceived in the west as…

Since the dawn of the millennium, the travel retail industry has had to endure a wide variety of external shocks, from volcanic ash clouds and the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the global economic crash of 2007/8 and, more recently, the 2020 pandemic. Sadly, the ­first half of 2025 proved to be yet another period testing its mettle, with rising geopolitical tensions, shifting passenger trends, soaring…

For any major spirits group travel retail is significant. It’s a highly specialised market which requires a deep understanding of both industry trends and current affairs. Founded in 1934, French company La Martiniquaise Bardinet is a major player in the world of duty free and Sylvia Bernard, managing director group development, joined Drinks International in the lead-up to TFWA Cannes 2025. “For us, travel retail…

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…