TR wines and spirits sales return to growth

The travel retail wines and spirits category is back in positive territory, with sales increasing by 3.5% to hit US$10.5 billion in 2016, Generation Research figures show.

Presented by Tax Free World Association (TFWA) president Erik Juul-Mortensen at the recent TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in Singapore, the data confirms a rebound for the sector after sales fell 4.2% in 2015.

Preliminary figures indicate that total 2016 sales across all categories and regions climbed 2.5% to US$63.6bn in 2016.

Despite the gains, Asia Pacific was the only region to progress, generating 9.1% sales growth to reach US$27.6bn. The region now accounts for 43.4% of all travel retail sales.

Europe, the second largest region, slipped 0.1% to US18.8bn, while sales in the Americas collapsed by 5.3% to US$10.7bn. The Middle East contracted by 1.2% to US$5.7bn, with Africa falling back 5.0% to US$0.7bn.

Wines and spirits was the second-strongest performer behind perfumes and cosmetics (up 8.4% to US$21.4bn) and ahead of fashion and accessories (+1.5%) and tobacco (+0.5%). All other categories declined.

In the Asia Pacific region alone, the wines and spirits category grew by 5.2% to US$3.5bn.