Tito’s Handmade Vodka’s global expansion has progressed to the stage where the beloved spirit in the U.S. has brought its travel retail and cruise business in-house to help match its domestic success in international markets.
To do so, the company has also strengthened its travel retail team in the region.
In the beginning of 2024, following the successful growth of its cruise business through WEBB Banks (now Southern Glazer’s Travel Retail Sales & Export Division) Tito’s brought the management of cruise in-house.
Later that year, Tito’s hired seasoned travel retail and cruise expert Curran Zinn as Commercial Manager, Travel Retail, to lead the growth of this important segment for Tito’s.
The next step came at the beginning of 2025, when Tito’s brought its travel retail business fully in-house. Southern Glazer’s, who had been handling the brand under the WEBB Banks division, will continue to manage select Caribbean domestic markets and various other markets in Central and South America for Tito’s.
“Tito’s has been evolving over the years into the domestic brand it is, but also the global brand it is becoming. The company realized it needed to build a team to bring the business in-house. We were seeing that Tito’s needed specific focus and had grown enough that it needed to have a full-time team dedicated to the brand,” explained Zinn.
The “Poolest Day Ever” cocktail onboard Celebrity Cruises featuring Tito’s in a Can.
Cruise is an ever-growing part of the business for Tito’s, with an important share of the company’s travel retail sales.
“We will be working as closely as possible with our domestic team, which has made Tito’s so popular in the U.S. We will be using their best practices to integrate into the cruise channel. I see cruises as an extension of the America domestic market success,” says Zinn.
“There continues to be a massive expansion of cruise that exceeds whatever we thought was going to happen. It is an incredibly exciting time, because Tito’s is well loved. As long as I continue to put a lot of focus and attention in the right places, Tito’s will continue to expand in cruise.”
Standing out and being authentic has always been a key part of Tito’s DNA, and it is critical that Tito’s takes these characteristics to cruise, says Zinn.
In December, Tito’s brought its Tito’s in a Can, a 16-ounce reusable steel can that is sold completely empty, to Celebrity Cruises. Consumers are encouraged to fill the empty can with Tito’s and the mixers of their choice.
“Tito’s in a Can is already a success in the domestic market. We started in December on Celebrity. The can will be a souvenir drinkware for the guests. Celebrity developed a drink called The Poolest Day Ever for Tito’s, that is promoted at sea days at the pool.
“Celebrity is the first cruise line we brought it to, but this is the type of thing we can definitely bring to more cruise lines because of the popularity that we’re seeing in the domestic market.”
Zinn says she is trying to reinforce these relationships with Tito’s domestic team so that these types of activations become the norm in cruise and travel retail for the company.
Since joining the company last April, Zinn says she has already seen progress in turning Tito’s into more of a globally relevant brand.
“I’m really excited because I’m taking full ownership over the brand, and while I was always incredibly thoughtful taking care of the brands I represented in the agencies I worked for, this sense of connection to the brand team as a whole is stronger. I think that is going to help move the needle faster in accomplishing the goal of making this a global brand.”
