- In the on- and off-premise, experience-led occasions drive consumer purchasing: The global travel retail channel is jumping on the trend
- GTR proves a bright spot for unaged spirits against a backdrop of declining global alcohol consumption
- The luxury end is leading growth for unaged tequila, vodka and gin in the channel
- Unaged rum was the only outlier, with the segment remaining almost entirely standard-priced in GTR; premium-and-above accounts for ‘well under 1% of sub-category value’ (IWSR)
- Asia Pacific, led by India, will lead unaged spirits’ growth in GTR, with the Middle East a key region
Close to 7m football fans flocked to the FIFA World Cup this summer – more than the 2018 and 2022 tournaments combined. Over 100 matches were played in 16 stadiums across the US, Canada and Mexico, and while fans will have been focused on the action on the pitch, the eyes of the alcohol industry will have been firmly fixed on the adjacent travel hubs.
Major international sporting events translate to big opportunities for drinks brands, particularly in the global travel retail channel. Diageo, the official World Cup spirits supporter, earmarked the tournament as “critically important” for its 2026 strategy, readying over 100 activations across 34 airports for its flagship Don Julio and Casamigos tequila brands.
At Mexico City International Airport, for example, Don Julio’s experiential space featured a luxury ‘golden trophy’ podium and bottle personalisation. Meanwhile, in Cancún, the brand’s digital in-store takeover ran alongside bottle personalisations exclusive to the airport and the sale of a special Don Julio 1942 FIFA World Cup Edition bottle. At New York’s JFK Airport, a Casamigos ‘Frenemy Zone’ included a foosball table and cocktail bar.
Diageo’s activations are a prime example of a wider trend, and one that goes beyond the soccer tournament. Experience-led occasions have been driving consumer purchasing in the on- and off-premise channels for years, and GTR has been following suit.
The experiential boom
“Creating a unique and immersive experience for travellers passing through travel retail is key,” says Diageo’s Global Travel MD, Andrew Cowan. “Spirits, like all brands, are having to increasingly compete for passengers’ attention in a busy environment. Offering an experience that both surprises the consumer and engages them into the duty-free fixture is crucial.
“You need to be offering something different and relevant; an experience they can’t get at home.”
Mont Blanc Vodka’s head of travel retail, Victoria Leonova, agrees that the trend has taken hold in GTR. “The duty-free channel perfectly reflects the global shift toward experiential consumption, where shopping becomes part of the travel experience rather than a mere transactional chore,” she says.
Experience-led activations are particularly important for brands operating in higher price tiers, where extra legwork is required to convince consumers to trade up, and high-end brands are finding success.
“Travel retail has become one of the strongest engines of premiumisation,” says Nemiroff CEO Yuriy Sorochynskiy. “The trend is particularly visible in white spirits. Airport shoppers are willing to trade up, drawn to exclusivity, gifting formats and elevated brand experiences.”
The burgeoning trend is one we’re guaranteed to see grow. William Grant & Sons’ GTR MD, Rufus Parkinson, believes experience-led activations are a trend “we only see accelerating” as they’re a win-win for brands, retailers and consumers alike.
“We’re seeing retailers place greater emphasis on these kinds of experiences, because they benefit everyone involved,” he explains. “Well-executed activations encourage shoppers to spend longer in-store, support premiumisation and create stronger emotional connections between brands and consumers.”
Indeed, GTR is uniquely placed to tap into consumer curiosity in ways that other channels fall short of; as Tito’s Handmade Vodka’s trade marketing manager for Europe, Asia & Middle East, Mel Golding, explains: “It’s a far richer retail experience to discover something new and understand the story behind the bottle, rather than simply purchase the same brand you might routinely buy online,” she says.
“Travel retail provides the ideal environment for this, as travellers have both the time and the discovery mindset to engage with brands, experience the liquid first-hand, and make more informed purchasing decisions.”
From transit hub to showroom
Having found success with experience-led activations, many unaged spirits brand owners are adapting to integrate their brands more seamlessly into wider airport offerings.
IWSR’s senior insights manager for GTR, Charlotte Reid, believes that “airports are repositioning as showrooms, with integrated spaces combining premium food and beverage, brand activations and discovery occasions rather than transactional browsing”. In other words, the lines between the on-premise and GTR channels are being blurred in order to give consumers a more integrated experience.
Multinationals such as Pernod Ricard are at the forefront of this shift. GTR food and beverage collaborations are an “emerging area of interest” for the company, according to the group’s GTR director for power brands & emerging categories, Rae Gibson. “We know that alcohol shoppers are spending 1.5 hours-plus airside,” she says, “and 96% say they’re not feeling time pressure, so there lies an enormous opportunity to combine three of their favourite things to do at the airport: eat, drink and shop.
“Bars and cafés aren’t just functional spaces in the airport, but a very important touchpoint in moving travellers, especially alcohol shoppers, towards purchase. They provide a strong moment for consideration and a useful bridge into store conversion.”
The trend is not limited to airports either, with other areas of GTR also shifting towards a more integrated and experience-led approach. “On cruise lines,” says IWSR‘s Reid, “premium masterclasses that move the bar-serve context into retail are generating significantly higher average transaction values than conventional models.
“Even border stores are trading the low-priced warehouse model for curated, design-led premium spaces.”
GTR bright spot for unaged spirits
Against a backdrop of declining global alcohol consumption, the GTR channel has acted as a beacon of hope for unaged spirits’ sub-categories. Blanco tequila is the current outperformer, with value up 21% and volume up 12% year on year.
Indeed, unaged spirits, according to IWSR, is growing at more than double the pace of the total GTR market. Traditional vodka is the category’s largest segment by volume in GTR, delivering impressive growth last year of +13% by value and +7% by volume year on 2024. Traditional gin, meanwhile, booked a slight volumes lift of 2% over the same period, but its value rose by a healthy 9%.
Unaged rum was the only outlier, experiencing declines of 8% in volume and 4% in value. The sub-category remains almost entirely standard-priced (97% of unaged rum’s volumes sit in the standard tier) in GTR, a key factor inhibiting its growth. “Premium-and-above has well under 1% of category value, so the premiumisation journey in GTR white rum has barely begun,” explains Reid.
In contrast, the luxury end is leading growth for other unaged spirits segments in travel retail. Blanco tequila is already a high-end category, with premium-plus representing 52% of volume, according to IWSR. The upper tiers continue to accelerate, with premium up 27% and ultra-premium up 57% by volume, but the standard tier is also expanding rapidly.
For gin, premium-and-above now accounts for 62% of GTR volumes, up from 54% in 2021. Last year, the segment’s premium-and-above volumes grew 6%, while the standard tier declined by 8%. Meanwhile, premiumisation is happening right at the top of the ladder for vodka. In volume terms, vodka’s premium band was flat last year, while super-premium was up 9%.
Promise amid uncertainty
This picture for high-end unaged spirits is particularly promising given the current geopolitical backdrop. Ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its related flight disruptions and airspace closures have caused traffic through airports in Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Kuwait to plummet. Subsequently, “elevated fuel costs, higher airfares and cost of living pressures all squeeze the discretionary spend that high-end purchases rely on”, says IWSR’s Reid.
Bacardí’s Grey Goose (above) and Bombay Sapphire brands have felt the impact first-hand. “Like many sectors linked to international travel,” says the group’s GTR marketing director, Darragh Ryan, “premium spirits are impacted by geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, which can influence travel patterns, consumer confidence and broader industry dynamics.”
For Montenegro-based Noblewood Group, which owns Beluga Vodka and Oyster Gin, changing logistics routes and currency volatility as a result of ongoing conflict have been the biggest burden on business. “These factors inevitably increase supply chain complexity and require significantly more planning and flexibility than a year before,” admits co-founder Katerina Mechetina.
However, the GTR channel is uniquely positioned to adapt in the face of this adversity. “One of the strengths of global travel retail is its diversity,” Bacardí’s Ryan says. “Travel patterns may shift between regions over time, but people continue to travel.”
As such, the brand owner’s strategy is to maintain a diversified global footprint, allowing it to shift focus to those markets that are showing promise, and away from those where demand is lagging.
The same goes for Noblewood, which has chosen to diversify both its customer base and geographic footprint. Mechetina explains: “Rather than relying on one or two key regions, we continue to expand across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, while strengthening relationships with GTR partners.
“This diversified approach has allowed us to continue growing despite ongoing market volatility.”
Despite the ongoing unrest, the Middle East offers significant opportunity for high-end white spirits in the travel retail channel. For William Grant, it remains an important region “not only because of its major aviation hubs, but because those airports connect travellers from across Europe, Asia and Africa, giving brands significant international exposure”, says Parkinson.
Nemiroff’s Sorochynskiy agrees, adding that “expanding travel hubs and strong visitor spending” also help make the region one of high potential.
For Noblewood, the growth of premium spirits consumption in the region makes the Middle East a promising area, but Asia Pacific and India are poised to drive momentum in the channel.
Mechetina says: “Asia Pacific is set to define the next decade of travel retail growth, with hundreds of millions of new travellers expected by 2035. India, in particular, stands out as a fast-rising market, fuelled by increasing premium spending and a growing appetite for international brands.”
Members-only intel
Keep reading this members-only article – and every one like it
- ✓All paywalled news and interviews
- ✓Category and market data
- ✓Monthly GDI magazine
- ✓Full archive + daily newsletter
Secure checkout · Cancel any time · Company invoices available
Already a member? Log in
See all plans, incl. 10-reader and corporate
Check if your company already pays for you Your company may already give you free access.
Corporate subscribers: AB InBev, Bacardi, Campari Group, Diageo, Moët Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, Proximo Spirits, Suntory Spirits Group, William Grant and Sons.
Activate company accessNot ready yet? Get the headlines free in our daily newsletter.
Sign up free
