The exponential growth of the travel retail industry was highlighted at the recent Middle East Exclusive, a three-day luxury brand exhibition.
More than 600 brands and around 2000 visitors from 60 countries worldwide attended the event, which took place in the Dubai World Trade Centre, from November 27 to 29.
The presence of exhibitors including Dubai Duty Free, Premier Portfolio International (PPI), Traveller Limited and Scorpio Distribution Limited was testament to the growing importance of the duty free and souvenir industry in the region.
PPI for example, has taken the branded inflight toy product to the next level, introducing a range of branded products tailored to the requirements of travel organisations around the world, including the Bahraini Government, which has commissioned a range of Bahrain branded merchandise, including key-rings, transparent playing cards, pens, radios, and CD holders.
“The Bahrain contract alone was worth around $120,000, so the potential to develop this is frightening,” explained Kevin Walsh, director, PPI.
The company has already designed sample merchandise for tourism boards, hotels and government agencies across the Middle East and has also evolved its in-flight product, as certain airlines try to reflect their corporate philosophies through the products they sell onboard.
According to onboard beauty and cosmetics product specialist, Traveller Limited, which boasts an 80% market share of Middle Eastern carrier business, on-board busying tastes are changing.
“Qatar Airways is now focusing its in-flight offering on skincare products, increasing its skincare product portfolio by 150% between January and August 2006, which represents a shift from the more traditional fragrances,” explained brand manager, Hema Aushat.
He said Middle East business increased 20% annually, but further growth could be attained if the company tapped the private charter market.
According to Swedish industry analyst group, Generation DataBank, the UAE is ranked eighth in the world out of the top 25 countries in terms of travel retail sales.
“There is no doubt the growth of the [travel retail] business throughout the greater Middle East region is going to outperform the average global growth, and even the growth in traditional Middle East countries,” said the company’s managing director, Yngve Bia. Paul Marks, director, Retail Management Solutions, added that annual travel retail sales in the Middle East, Africa, former CIS and India, on track to reach more than $500 million by 2020.
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