Diageo Global Travel will unveil its new category vision, ‘Destination Growth’, at the TFWA World Exhibition and Conference in Cannes.
Returning to the Majestic Beach Village, Diageo Global Travel will present a roadmap to attract more consumers to duty free spirits, serving a broader range of travelers’ needs and occasions, and creating stronger reasons to buy. ‘Destination Growth’ also supports Diageo’s global priorities to have relevant brands in competitive category strategies and to partner closely with customers.
Built on consumer insight, ‘Destination Growth’ responds to changing traveler behavior, tastes and trends, and sets out how to drive greater awareness and participation in the category by making duty free spirits a relevant and compelling part of the journey.
Looking beyond the traditional retail fixture, it considers the end-to-end travel experience, identifying new opportunities to engage adult consumers before, during and after they visit the retail store. Currently, 11% of passengers visit an alcohol duty free fixture, according to m1nd-set research.
‘Destination Growth’ offers a blueprint for how the travel retail ecosystem can innovatively drive footfall and conversion. From scalable personalization and year-round gifting, to elevating brands through cultural and seasonable collaborations, as well as state of the art exploration opportunities, Destination Growth sets out how the sector can respond to a diverse range of passenger needs and occasions, while creating opportunities for the category to grow and increase average spend.
Diageo Global Travel sees three key growth opportunities with ‘Destination Growth.’
Elevating Moments: Diageo Global Travel has identified an opportunity to make spirits duty free the go-to choice for people looking to buy to celebrate, gift or treat themselves or others. As part of this year’s exhibition, Diageo will highlight the importance of year-round gifting, with The Gifting Concierge, a multi-brand gifting activation, positioned at the front of store to drive footfall for a variety of gifting occasions.
Encouraging Discovery: Travelers are more open to exploring and experiencing something new, with 55% of duty free alcohol buyers purchasing a product for the first time. Diageo Global Travel will demonstrate how, by offering exclusive and distinctive products in an immersive and educational environment, brands and retailers alongside airports, cruises and airlines, can leverage this to engage curious passengers and entice them into the spirits category.
Easy Social: There is an opportunity to make buying alcohol in duty free effortless and simple, to serve a diverse range of travelers with more convenient and relevant options across the breadth of the spirits portfolio. Lack of willingness to carry more items is the second biggest barrier for alcohol shoppers in duty free. Brands and retailers need to address this, given consumers also want to elevate their experience when they reach their destination.
Andrew Cowan, Managing Director, Diageo Global Travel, said: “Travel retail remains one of the most exciting opportunities for spirits. But we need to think boldly to ensure the category remains a vibrant and value creating part of travel retail. We need to make spirits duty free an unmissable part of the journey.
“Travelers are changing how they move through airports, how they discover brands and what they expect from retail experiences.
“Destination Growth is our vision for how we respond together, taking a broader category view to serve more travelers across more occasions. It is about making spirits the destination, by creating more reasons to stop, explore and buy throughout the traveler journey.
“No single business can unlock that opportunity alone. By working together with our partners, we believe we can build a more engaging spirits category that delivers stronger experiences for travelers and sustainable growth for our sector.”
