Published on : Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Well known luxury brands are accelerating the battle for travelling shoppers with more exclusive shops at airports and on cruise ships, beating into one of the fastest rising sections of the market that looks set to keep booming.
According to a market study by Generation Research, profits from travel retail, including sales on airplanes, rose 9.4 percent in 2012 to $55.8 billion. Since January worldwide tourist spending is up 12 percent whereas spending by Chinese tourists in Europe is up around 20 percent, according to data from tax-refund company Global Blue. It should reach $60 billion this year and nearly double in size by 2020, the study forecast.
The French luxury brand, the world’s second-biggest following Louis Vuitton by sales, has outlets in four Asian airports and one at London’s Heathrow. Kering’s Gucci has also opened its boutique in the same locations. The French luxury brand will open another two stores in Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport and in Dubai next year.
Hermes, which has 50 retails in airports around the world, is turning these into proper self-supporting shops to better tap the booming market.
L’Oreal, the world’s biggest cosmetics group and maker of Lancome creams and Yves Saint Laurent lipstick, created a unit last month committed to travel retail.
LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, is planning to open a new retail concept called Galleria, specifically designed for traveling luxury shoppers, first in Venice and then perhaps in Paris in 2016.
Most luxury brands have raised prices, particularly in the euro zone and in Japan, to make up for currency moves.
Tags: Destination News
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