Flavoured spirits & liqueurs take flight as exclusives and experiences pay off in global travel retail - Category Intel

Flavoured spirits and liqueurs are outperforming the wider alcohol category in global travel retail, leaning on flavour innovation and experiential marketing
Creams, in particular, are leaning into flavour NPD to grab the attention of passing travellers looking for gifts and expand their reach beyond the winter months
Experiential retail is becoming increasingly important – brands are investing in pop-ups, tastings, demonstrations and other activations to win travellers’ attention
The cruise channel is growing in significance, bucking wider trends and proving ‘a genuine growth engine’ as consumers continue to splurge on luxury voyages

While the pressure from rises in the cost of living is “visible” in the global travel retail channel, flavoured spirits and liqueurs are “proving remarkably resilient to it”, according to IWSR analysis.

“Duty-free pricing and in-store engagement positions liqueurs as an affordable treat and a natural gifting or impulse purchase within the travel occasion,” says the drinks analysis company’s senior insights manager for GTR, Charlotte Reid.

Last year, liqueurs outperformed the total GTR market, with growth “coming from changing consumption occasions, riding the same cocktail culture wave that lifted bitters and spirit aperitifs”, says Reid.

Where liqueurs differ, she caveats, is in price architecture. “The category’s growth is overwhelmingly concentrated in the standard tier, making it accessible, but it doesn’t have the same price ladder we see in whisk(e)y or agave-based products.”

Geopolitical headaches

Across GTR, Reid says the “single biggest near-term challenge is geopolitical”.

“The Middle East conflict, airspace closures and flight disruption have effectively collapsed hub traffic through Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Kuwait,” she says. “Europe is the region most exposed through its lost connectivity with Asia. On top of this, competition for traveller attention within the retail environment is fierce. Footfall and conversion are declining, consumer preferences are shifting fast, and retailers are rationalising ranges.”

As this year draws to a close, retail operator Gebr. Heinemann is hopeful that travel to the Middle East and Africa will trickle back in Q4. “It’s slowly coming back – but international travellers have not come back,” says the company’s global head of category spirits, Manuel Schilling. “We do see more flights going, but realistically, that will be a 2027 play.

“At the moment, it’s about – like during Covid-19 times – keeping the lights on.”

At Greece’s Plomari Distillery, exports brand manager Eleni Papadopoulou says: “It’s still too early to assess the long-term impact of recent geopolitical developments, [but] we haven’t observed any significant change in demand specifically attributable to these events. Compared with domestic retail, however, GTR remains a resilient channel.”

Zamora Co’s GTR channel director, Ruben Canabal, describes GTR as “incredibly resilient”, but admits: “There’s no doubt that persistent geopolitical tensions and economic volatility add layers of complexity to the global travel landscape.”

However, he feels “these macro shifts often create localised opportunities” – such as the current rerouting of air traffic towards parts of the Mediterranean. “This has effectively turned Spain into a safe-haven destination for many tourists, impacting our traffic and sales very positively in the region,” he notes.

Herbal liqueurs up the ante

Mast-Jägermeister has been investing “heavily” in “cutting-edge” GTR activations for its namesake herbal liqueur brand – including opening the company’s first brand-specific travel retail outlet in Frankfurt Airport (below) in July.

This strategy, says GTR VP Tobias Witte, “pays off not only in travel retail commercial success, but also in raising visibility of our brands via social interaction in-store”.

The Frankfurt pop-up is split over two sites located on either side of the terminal’s main walkway: Destination Jäger and Destination Meister. An anticipated 5m travellers are expected to pass the shops during their 12-month tenure.

“My vision [for the concept] would be this becomes a blueprint of pop-up stores all around the globe,” a Mast-Jägermeister spokesperson told Global Drinks Intel editor Olly Wehring during his visit to Frankfurt in July.

Witte adds: “GTR is also an important channel from an experiential and education perspective, as we can interact with consumers and launch products, such as Jägermeister Orange [a flavour extension created to cater to LDA Gen Z consumers].”

Last year, Mast-Jägermeister launched GTR-exclusive campaign ‘The Orange Era’, also at Frankfurt Airport, which saw bespoke pop-ups featuring music, digital activations and tastings. The activity has since been rolled out in European travel hubs including London, Rome and Copenhagen.

“We work with partners to create theatre and embrace a localised approach to create shopper impact and draw them into the store,” says Witte. Examples include a 1.6m-tall Jägermeister Orange windmill made from 473 miniature bottles at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (main image). “It’s quite a statement,” Witte adds.

The group’s attention has also been on Jägermeister’s City Labels range. The GTR-exclusive labels, launched in 2019, feature a QR code that provides information about the location when scanned. Earlier this year, the range was expanded to 19.

Ouzo seeks to broaden its appeal

For Greek spirit ouzo, domestic airports are a natural bedfellow. “Our strongest GTR markets are those with high volumes of international travellers who have a strong affinity with Greece and the Mediterranean lifestyle, particularly in Europe,” says Ouzo of Plomari’s Papadopoulou.

Elsewhere, she notes growing opportunities in “international travel hubs”, including Israel, Türkiye, Bulgaria and Germany, “driven by increasing consumer interest in spirits with a clear provenance and heritage”.

But being seen as a souvenir has its limitations. Papadopoulou admits: “Our GTR business does experience a degree of seasonality, with stronger sales during the peak summer months when international visitor numbers are highest.”

To expand beyond holidaymakers, the company is pushing its namesake ouzo’s wider Mediterranean credentials and versatility in food pairings, aperitif occasions and cocktails, and this year unveiled GTR-exclusive, lower-proof 34% ABV Ouzo of Plomari & Citrus Liqueur.

Plomari also releases annual limited-edition packaging for its core ouzo, which Papadopoulou says “has become an important way for us to offer travellers something unique”.

NPD fuels cream liqueurs

Last year, according to IWSR, total cream liqueurs grew 12% by volume and 16% by value in GTR. Category leader Diageo-owned Baileys Irish Cream, which sold 7.5m nine-litre cases worldwide in 2025, has focused on limited-edition flavour NPD in the channel, such as last year’s Christmas-themed bottle and “immersive treat-stop experiences” in Dublin Airport Duty Free.

“Gifting and exclusivity are key drivers of purchasing in duty free, especially during the festive season,” a Diageo spokesperson says. The company declined to share details of its GTR plans for Baileys, but hinted it does have activations planned for the 2026 Christmas period.

Na Cuana Group’s Merry’s Irish Cream Liqueur is also working on flavour NPD. The company launched Merry’s Chocolate Peanut Butter in Dublin GTR last year, to “a great response”, and will roll out a Dubai Style Chocolate SKU in October.

While the brand’s sales tend to be skewed towards the last three months of the year, Na Cuana co-founder Sally-Anne Cooney says limited editions help “to broaden the sales window”. She also touts the rewards of targeting the “captive audience” in GTR with tasting opportunities, “along with preferential pricing”.

In Scotland, Hemisphere Brands launched its scotch-based cream liqueur brand, Magnum (above), in GTR earlier this year. Co-founder Steve Horne admits: “Honestly, [the launch was] more of a reactive than proactive initiative – we’re asked constantly if Magnum is available in travel retail.”

As well as widening availability, he says the channel “generates the brand awareness we couldn’t have achieved on our own”. Within five years, Horne estimates the channel will account for a quarter of Magnum sales. Hemisphere Brands’ initial GTR strategy has focused on sampling, which Horne says is “the most important thing we do”. He adds: “We will explore gifting, value-adds and limited-time offers around ‘cream’ season [Christmas].”

Despite Baileys’ dominance, Horne sees room for growth and innovation in cream liqueurs. “[It] is a resilient category, but dominated by one player at a price point,” he says. “We’re already seeing significant room for a brand such as Magnum, [which is] premium in terms of ingredients and packaging. We certainly see scope for innovation in the category following the same principles – maybe a rum cream liqueur, a tequila cream. Watch this space.”

Gifting and visibility

For Marussia Beverages, Mozart Chocolate Cream is the top-selling brand in GTR, the Swiss company tells Global Drinks Intel.

Senior brand manager Carina Planeta says simple initiatives like adding ribbons to bottles (above) have “proven to make a strong difference” in GTR, adding an “occasion-led appeal” particularly around events like Valentine’s Day and Christmas.

“Mozart’s bottle shape and wrapping already give the product a strong gifting character and the ribbon helps to underline this even further on-shelf,” she adds.

Marussia sells “up to” seven Mozart variants in GTR, depending on location. It also offers a channel-exclusive 1L bottle, which Planeta says “gives us a strong travel retail-specific proposition while keeping the product experience consistent with the wider Mozart portfolio”, and runs cash-desk activations for its 5cl format. The smaller size, she adds, is “particularly well suited” to “trial and impulse purchases”.

Contrary to other brands, in-person activations are not a focus for Mozart. “Travellers often have limited time in-store and are therefore less likely to engage in lengthy or more conventional shopping experiences,” Planeta explains.

“Instead, we address consumers through other effective tools in the GTR environment to follow a more flow-driven shopping behaviour, including strong visibility, impactful shelf and secondary placements, cash-desk activations, gifting elements and seasonal price promotions.”

From transaction to experience

Licor 43 is Zamora Co’s “undisputed primary focus” in GTR. The company’s channel strategy is centred around “high-profile promotions” in Spain – the brand’s largest market – as well as Brazil, the Netherlands and the US.

Marketing centres on the brand’s coffee-based serve, the carajillo 43 (below). A recent activation in Alicante Airport involved cocktail-making demos and a gift-with-purchase promotion. “Turning retail spaces into experiential hubs helps increase footfall in busy airports,” says Canabal, “and has been a successful buffer against the impact of inflationary pressures on consumer shopping habits.”

In July, Zamora president José María de Santiago noted a “structural shift in consumer habits” during the group’s full-year results announcement. In travel retail, Canabal describes this change as “the move from transactional shopping to experiential discovery – shoppers are looking for true value. We counter this by understanding that value doesn’t simply mean cheaper price,” he says. “It means quality, exclusivity and storytelling.

“To win, brand owners must stop relying on passive displays and invest in experiential mass events that put the liquid to the lips,” he adds. “Success [in GTR] will belong to the brands that can seamlessly blend digital pre-trip engagement with deeply physical, cultural and personalised in-store experiences.”

Airports remain the brand’s main focus, but Canabal touts “enormous potential in the cruise sector”, which has “shown remarkable resilience and steady passenger growth”.

He adds: “From a regional perspective, the booming outward travel from emerging markets like India, where young, affluent travellers are highly brand aware, also represents massive future growth avenues.”

Cruising towards growth

Canabal is not the only one to extoll the potential of cruise liners – IWSR’s Reid points to the sub-channel as “a genuine growth engine, defying the economic slowdown with record passenger numbers”.

Meanwhile, Micaela Pallini, CEO of Pallini Co, says the channel is key for her family’s namesake sambuca and limoncello.

“All cruise lines have an Italian-themed restaurant or Italian team nights, and here is where most consumption takes place. Sambuca [and limoncello] remind customers of their time in Italy,” she says. “On a cruise line, people tend to indulge themselves. They don’t have to drive. They have time.”

Looking forward, IWSR’s Reid says the “winning playbook” in GTR will involve a combination of experiential retail, “which generates higher transaction values than conventional models”, positioning liqueurs in the accessible-luxury “sweet spot” and leveraging exclusives and limited editions.

She adds: “The momentum behind liqueurs, bitters and aperitifs shows that changing consumption occasions, particularly cocktail culture, is where the incremental traveller spend is going.”