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Travel Retail |
 Shopping on the move
When I started travelling - rather more years ago than I care to remember - the airport element was just my way of getting where I was going, at least initially, before resorting to the more ‘local’ methods of trains, buses and whatever else I could cadge a lift on!
Lately (maybe it’s all the flight delays) I’ve noticed that airports - once you’ve got through the hell of security and into departures - have become rather interesting places. I’m not normally much of a shopper at home, but with time to spare and only so much I can eat or drink in a two hour wait, I’ve started investigating the shops and discovered the big glossy world of duty free and/or travel retail shopping.
Like a lot of good things in life - Guinness for example - the concept of duty free shopping was invented by the Irish back in 1947 when they opened the first shop at Shannon airport to sell goods exempt of duties to travellers stopping off between the USA and Europe. It worked, rather well in fact, and soon duty free developed into a thriving industry all of its own.
Now generally classed under the wider term of travel retail shopping, the industry, which includes purchases on airlines, ferries and cruise ships, border and down town shops, is worth a massive $30bn a year - with Asia one of the most dynamic and fastest growing regions. |
 So what is it about travel retail shopping that makes it different to your High Street and worth making time to discover? Well for a start, in my High Street you certainly don’t get the diversity of products and brands (designer and otherwise) that you’ll find, say, in Singapore’s Changi, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi or Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airports. And if you’ve been to the new T3 at Beijing’s International Airport of Shanghai’s Pudong you’ll see new top brand stores opening up that - well I would never dreamed have seeing 20 years ago. Bally, Hugo Boss, Escada, Mango, MCM, Nike, Neuhaus - an endless list of global names that have moved into the airport environment in a big way.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has predicted that visitor arrivals to the Asia Pacific region will reach almost 500m by the end of 2010 with massive increases in outbound traffic from China, Korea, and Singapore. Much of the traffic is from countries within the region but more and more of us wanderlust guys and gals from the Middle East and Europe are wanting to explore this fascinating part of the world. So there is masses of investment in airports, more and more choice in terms of routes via low cost airlines, and equally big commitments to improving the retail offer to the likes of you and me. And that’s got to be good news. I never thought I’d see an Apple istudio store at an airport, but Changi T3 has one and I nearly missed my flight staying in there too long.
A word of warning. Don’t expect prices to necessarily be a lot cheaper than you’ll find in your High Street; liquor and tobacco should show significant savings over the local market in Asia but ‘luxury items’ such as handbags and ties and impulse buys like confectionery will not have had the same levels of taxes imposed on them in the first place. |
 Bargains, maybe not. But exclusives - very much so. You can pick up some great exclusive cosmetic/makeup sets at airports and inflight that you can’t get at home from brands like Dior, YSL, Clarins and Clinique which make brilliant gifts for the wife/girlfriend/lover/mother/daughter. Fragrance companies often actually launch new products first in airports before they move onto the domestic market, so you can score a real brownie point or two with the latest eau de parfum! If budgets are tight, then you can never go wrong with a box of chocolates and again, look out for special travel retail presentations from brands that we all know and love - Nestle, Godiva, Toblerone, Mars. You’ll find some great liquor exclusives too, especially for premium whisky and Cognac, so make time to investigate! I got hold of a bottle of Remy XO Premier Cru recently, which I certainly haven’t seen anywhere domestically. It didn’t last long. |
 Most of these exclusive ideas originate at the industry’s annual global trade exhibition held every October in Cannes, France (it’s not open to the general public). TFWA World Exhibition attracts over 5,000 visitors from airports, airlines, ships etc who visit the show’s 500 exhibitors who include just about every top brand name you can think of from Agio to Zilli! Here is where all the new lines for 2009 and beyond will be launched, viewed and chosen to go on the shelves in airports worldwide.
Post event we’re hoping to bring you our recommendations on the brands and products we think are going to be winners for travellers in Asia and worldwide...so watch this space.
LAGS. Following the 10 August 2006 terrorist plot in the UK, the majority of airports have brought in strict security rules regarding the carrying of liquids/gels/pastes in hand luggage. The norm now is that passengers are not allowed to get onto a plane with more than 100ml of any single liquid, gel or paste, which much be presented at security in a sealable transparent bag. That final check in point varies from airport to airport, it might be after check-in, or not until you reach the gate. Your liquid duty free purchases (liquor/ fragrances over 100ml) may be subject to confiscation depending on where you are flying from/to (particularly if you are transferring in the destination country); therefore it is very important that you check when you buy what the applicable rules are.
These days, thanks to the joy of the web, you can visit a good number of airport retail shops (and airline's inflight brochures) before you get there, check out the latest promotions and exclusives and compare prices. Or check out Tax Free Traveler |
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