The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has welcomed last month’s decision by the US Transport Security Administration to allow air passengers departing the US for international destinations to use security tamper-evident bags (STEBs) for carrying duty-free liquids. The move aims to bring US aviation security measures closer to those of the EU and the council believes using the bags on US departing flights should…

German travel retailer Gebr Heinemann teamed up with Diageo last month to run a Luxury Lounge promotion at Frankfurt airport that focused on the British company’s premium reserve brands. The highlight of the two-month long promotion, which ran at Heinemann’s Schengen B Travel Value & Duty Free shop, was Diageo’s new ultra-premium Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V whisky, housed in a lacquer presentation…

"Yet women are behind 86 per cent of buying decisions in retail. That’s crazy. We need to make the typical duty-free store drinks section much more female friendly." With its award-winning teardrop-shaped bottle, with twisted neck and accompanying legless glasses, Holmes argues that U’Luvka vodka appeals equally to both sexes and could work to lure more female travellers into the duty-free spirits market . "One leading…

Italian retail and catering giant Autogrill has revealed details of its plans to integrate its recent purchases of three of the world’s biggest duty-free and travel-retail operators – Aldeasa, Alpha Retail and World Duty Free (WDF). The two UK businesses, Alpha Retail and WDF, are to be merged to create a single UK airport retailer with an-nual sales of £565m. It will be led by…

Beam Global Spirits & Wine and Maxxium Global Travel Retail (MGTR) staged a Jim Beam bourbon face painting promotion at two German airports last month, which was timed to coincide with the UEFA Euro 2008 football championships. The promotion ran at Gebr Heinemann’s shops at Frank-furt and Munich airports and involved in-store promoters tempting travellers to have their faces painted with their respective national flags.

Gebr Heinemann, duty-free liquor retailer at Copenhagen Kastrup airport, hopes to change costly tax regulations relating to bottle labelling. Under the existing rules, Heinemann has to sell liquor products in differently-label-led bottles to passengers who are travelling within or outside the European Union. Travellers bound for destinations within the EU are charged duty-paid prices, while customers travelling outside the EU can buy at duty-free prices.

Virgin Atlantic has chosen Croatian vodka Akvinta to be its pouring vodka at its flagship Clubhouse at London Heathrow airport. To celebrate the high-profile listing, Akvinta is running a competition with Clubhouse staff to create a new cocktail called Stoic Virgin, which will be served exclusively to Virgin passengers. Pavel Ryabov, chief executive of Akvinta brand owner Adriatic Distillers, said the Virgin clubhouse listing…