The Middle East's largest travel retailer Dubai Duty Free enjoyed a 40 per cent increase in wine sales by value last year thanks to the expansion of its top-end wine offer.

Volumes grew by 17 per cent for the UAE-based airport operator, which generates a round 80 per cent of its wine sales in arrivals, and added 60 new wine SKU s to its selection last year - many of them fine wines. Consequently, wine grew one percentage point during 2007 to account for 11.5 per cent of DDF's total liquor sales, making it the second -largest sub-sector after whisky.

"Our wine business is not traditional duty-free," said DDF manager purchasing and research Sharon Beecham. "We do sell quite well in departures, where we have improved the business by targeting the range more specifically to departing passengers. However, arrivals passengers keen to take advantage of the price saving remain our top customer group for wine.

"We ensure that the selection is only the best at whichever price point is on offer and we sell from US$8 up to US$2,000," she added. "The factors that have driven the business in 2007 are the additional listings and the opening of two small shops in the VIP terminals."

French wines still dominate DDF's wine sales with shiraz and chardonnay proving popular grape varietals.

American Airlines has partnered with Internet broadcaster GrapeRadio to offer passengers in business and first class wine-specific programming on the airline's in-flight entertainment programme.

The broadcasts from US-based GrapeRadio, whose podcasts are listened to by 20,000 listeners nationwide, range in length from 30 to 60 minutes. The first programmes for American Airlines will include interviews with famous wine industry personalities such as Frederick Paniotis of Veuve Clicquot and Margit Mondavi, as well as reports from top wine-producing regions worldwide, and discussions on wine buying, tasting and restaurant etiquette.

Commenting on the deal, GrapeRadio producer Jay Selman said: "We couldn't be more excited about the partnership with American Airlines. The field of wine is fertile ground for savvy, curious listeners. There's still plenty yet to learn and explore."

GrapeRadio was created in 2005 by podcast pioneer Michael Geoghegan.

l Family-owned Australian winery De Bortoli Wines has appointed UK-based World of Patria its global duty-free and travel-retail distributor.

l Bacardi Global Travel Retail Division has named Mark Halgunseth its new trade marketing manager. His main responsibilities include developing regional opportunities .

l Wine producer Racke saw duty-free and travel-retail sales increase by more than 10 per cent in 2007, with Europe proving the strongest performing region. The company's New World wine ranges helped drive this growth, in particular the South African Golden Kaan brand and the more recently launched Espiritu de Chile.

Bombay Sapphire gin has employed three leading names from the world of luxury goods and design - glassware manufacturer Baccarat, jeweller Garrard and artist Karim Rashid - to create five hand-made crystal bottles decorated with diamonds and sapphires.

The five Revelation bottles, which are cut in to the shape of giant gemstones, will retail at US$200,000 each and will be exhibited exclusively at five key airports over the next two to three months - Singapore Changi, New York JFK, Dubai, Sydney and London Heathrow's new Terminal 5.

All profits from the sale of the bottles will benefit children's charity The Smile Train, which provides cleft palate surgery to children in third-world countries.

At the London unveiling of Revelation last month, Bacardi Global Travel Retail Division marketing director Gary Chau said: "Bombay Sapphire Revelation gives new meaning to the phrase 'high-value partnership', which is one of the B G T R D 's guiding principles. Creating Revelation has been a collaborative journey and we are nearing the 'reveal' of these five beautiful objects."

Liquor retailing in travel retail is set to reach new heights when London Heathrow's £4.3 billion Terminal 5 opens later this month.

BAA-owned World Duty Free has allocated the liquor and tobacco sector more than 600sq m in a separate store, which faces the larger multi-category shop on the main passenger route into the departures terminal.

The shop incorporates some firsts for the travel-retail industry, most significantly a style bar developed and funded in partnership with Diageo. The circular bar is dominated by a giant chandelier , made up of nearly 300 fibre optic tubes. Mixologists will serve cocktails using Diageo-owned brands.

The Canadian Airports Council has called on the country's government to introduce duty-free arrivals shopping.

CAC has developed a

powerful economic case for the adoption of arrivals shopping.

It estimates the opening of arrivals shops would give the C$174 million Canadian airport duty-free business a sales boost of C$61 million, create 400 new jobs, and generate C$7.2 million in additional federal tax revenue.

"Arrivals duty-free represents a unique win-win opportunity for the federal government to help Canadian duty-free operators and their airport hosts, while also increasing federal tax revenue," said CAC president and chief executive Jim Facette.

"We hope the minister [of finance] will act on this ­recommendation from the committee."

The Canadian government ignored earlier calls by the industry to allow arrivals duty-free, but the continuing spread of arrivals shops in other countries worldwide (some 50 states have now adopted them) might ­persuade the authorities it is the right time to take the plunge.

If arrivals legislation is passed, Canadian operators' duty-free liquor sales will increase significantly as many travellers opt not to buy earlier in their journey because of the inconvenience of carrying heavy bottles.

Conversely, airport retailers in the US and Europe with significant numbers of flights to Canada will be negatively affected as returning Canadians opt to defer their purchase until their arrival.

LVMH has revealed that the increasing spending power of Chinese travellers was the main factor behind a strong set of year-end financial results for DFS Group, one of the world's leading luxury retailers.

The French luxury goods group reported that its Selective Retailing division, which includes DFS Group along with Miami Cruiseline and beauty chain Sephora, posted a 10 per cent increase in profit in 2007 to reach US$439 million, and a 7 per cent rise in revenues.

Famous for its sophisticated merchandising and high level of customer service, DFS continues to be the first choice among liquor suppliers wanting to find an exclusive regional launchpad for new items such as Absolut 100, Chivas Regal 25 Year Old and Martell Château de Versailles VSOP.

"DFS is continuing to grow its market share in Asia against a backdrop of lower spending by Japanese travellers and a weak yen," said LVMH during a conference call on the results. "The growth in DFS is driven by an increase in Chinese travellers , new plans for Macau and opening the business in Vietnam in the final quarter [of the year]. These are major growth drivers going forward. Tourist flows to these two destinations are growing strongly."

Hong Kong-based DFS operates more than 150 airport shops across Asia -Pacific and North America, as well as 14 downtown "Gallerias " in locations such as Sydney, Guam, Los Angeles and Hawaii. A new DFS Galleria is scheduled to open in June at the Four Seasons hotel in Macau.

Diageo powerhouse brand Smirnoff continues its season of Smirnoff Experience events with music producer du jour Mark Ronson collaborating with Duran Duran on a partnership that will form the centrepiece of Smirnoff Experience Paris at La Cigale early this month.

This live, invite-only gig will showcase reworked versions of the band's classic hits along with material from their latest album Red Carpet, plus elements from Ronson's live show .

Smirnoff Experience Paris is the third in a series of four global Smirnoff events aimed at celebrating the heritage and originality of the brand.

Moscow, Shanghai and, later, New York City are the venues chosen as being most relevant to the history of the brand, with original music collaborations fused with interactive entertainment at the core of these events.

l DFS Group is set to retain its contract to sell wine at Singapore Changi airport's Terminal Two after it transpired it was the only bidder for the concession when it came up for tender last month.

l Bacardi Global Travel Retail Division (BGTRD) has given two members of its sales team enhanced roles . Former regional manager UK/Ireland Leigh Irvine becomes travel-retail regional director for western Europe, and Hauke Marquardt, formerly regional manager for central, eastern Europe and Turkey, becomes travel-retail regional director for central, eastern Europe and the Middle East.

l Germany's largest independent regional carrier Cirrus Airlines has listed Russian Standard vodka. The three products in the family - Russian Standard Original, Russian Standard Platinum and Imperia - will be the only vodkas served on Cirrus flights and in the airline's VIP lounges.

l Chairman of Indian drinks giant The UB Group Dr Vijay Mallya will be the keynote speaker at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in October. Mallya will speak on the conference theme, 'Challenge the Future.'

l Diageo has promoted Phil Humphreys, formerly European sales and commercial director, to managing director of its Global Travel and Middle East division while his predecessor, Ron Anderson, is leaving GTME to take up a new role as Diageo's chief customer officer in which he will be the "voice of the customer at the most senior level in the company".

Ireland's duty-free liquor in-dustry has narrowly escaped the costly repercussions of new government legislation aimed at curbing alcohol consumption among the country's under-age drinkers.

The proposed Liquor/Public Order Act 2008 re-quires that retailers locate their wine and spirit offer separately from other product categories by means of a "solid wall or some other similar barrier". If space limitations make this unfeasible, then liquor can only be sold over the counter.

Irish airport operator Aer Rianta International, with the assistance of the European Travel Retail Council (ETRC), successfully lobbied the Irish government to insert a derogation that exempted the country's duty-free shops from all the provisions of the bill, which could be brought into force by the end of the summer.

"This is great news for the duty-free and travel-retail liquor business," said ETRC spokesperson John Hume.

"The provisions would have been prohibitively costly to introduce and would have meant retailers looking to other product categories to fill the gap.

"It would have also created a dangerous international precedent, so we are glad we were able to persuade the powers that be that the highly regulated and controlled nature of the industry entitled us to an exemption."

Duty-free liquor sales at re-gional European airports are under serious threat after the publication of a new Excise Duty Directive by the Euro-pean Commission .

Currently, passengers de-parting from European Union airports on flights transiting within the EU, are able to buy duty-free goods at either their originating or transfer airports, provided their final destination lies outside the EU.

Virgin Atlantic has chosen Croatian vodka Akvinta to be its pouring vodka at its flagship Clubhouse at London Heathrow airport.

To celebrate the high-profile listing, Akvinta is running a competition with Clubhouse staff to create a new cocktail called Stoic Virgin, which will be served exclusively to Virgin passengers.

Pavel Ryabov, chief executive of Akvinta brand owner Adriatic Distillers, said the Virgin clubhouse listing was a "major milestone" in the history of Akvinta.

"I believe the philosophy of the two brands is in perfect synergy, as both represent great taste and a passion to deliver the highest standards," he said.

Akvinta vodka will also be introduced to Virgin's onboard shopping selection later on in the year.

Gebr Heinemann, duty-free liquor retailer at Copenhagen Kastrup airport, hopes to change costly tax regulations relating to bottle labelling.

Under the existing rules, Heinemann has to sell liquor products in differently-label-led bottles to passengers who are travelling within or outside the European Union.

Travellers bound for destinations within the EU are charged duty-paid prices, while customers travelling outside the EU can buy at duty-free prices.

However, Heinemann and Copenhagen airport have been lobbying the Danish government to change the rules, arguing that the technology exists to sell a product with the same label to both sets of customers and establish whether duty is or isn't payable at point of sale.

Gebr Heinemann ApS general manager Palle Linaa Petersen said: "This would make a huge difference with administration and logistics, as well as with costs."

Petersen is encouraged that a few Danish regional tax authorities have started to allow taxation at the POS rather than at the point of production. "This makes us confident that we will be able to change this rule," he added.

Beam Global Spirits & Wine and Maxxium Global Travel Retail (MGTR) staged a Jim Beam bourbon face painting promotion at two German airports last month, which was timed to coincide with the UEFA Euro 2008 football championships.

The promotion ran at Gebr Heinemann's shops at Frank-furt and Munich airports and involved in-store promoters tempting travellers to have their faces painted with their respective national flags. An on-pack face-painting kit was also part of the initiative, along with in-store visuals and tastings of both the standard Jim Beam White and the premium Jim Beam Black.

Amy Neville-Eliot, Beam marketing manager for Eur-ope, explained: "The aim of the promotion was to differentiate ourselves from the competition by being more innovative and visible to consumers during the busy period surrounding the Euro 2008 championships."

Italian retail and catering giant Autogrill has revealed details of its plans to integrate its recent purchases of three of the world's biggest duty-free and travel-retail operators - Aldeasa, Alpha Retail and World Duty Free (WDF).

The two UK businesses, Alpha Retail and WDF, are to be merged to create a single UK airport retailer with an-nual sales of £565m. It will be led by experienced WDF chief executive Mark Riches.

Alpha will continue to run its many domestic and international in-flight retail and catering contracts.

Alpha's overseas airport contracts, which extend to the US, the Indian subcontinent and Middle East, will be handled by Spanish airport retailer Aldeasa, boosting annual revenues to more than £800m.

Autogrill hopes the integration of the three businesses will garner cost savings of e40m a year by 2011.

A global purchasing team has also been set up as part of the plan, which will be led by Aldeasa Group commercial director Eugenio Andrades, WDF commercial director Jo O'Connor and Alpha Retail international director Martin Petchey.

The owner of U'Luvka vodka has urged duty-free retailers to make their spirit assortments and in-store merchandising more welcoming to women.

"The drinks industry is run by men for men," said Mark Holmes, managing director and founder of London-based The Brand Distillery.

l Bacardi Global Travel Retail has named Jason Druckenmiller (below) as its second roving brand ambassador on selected Celebrity Cruise voyages. He will present mixology seminars and staff training on key Bacardi brands. He will also host samplings for onboard duty-free shops.

l King Power International has listed Patrón tequila at 13 of its largest duty-free stores across Thailand. The brand is now available in more than 60 airports worldwide.

German travel retailer Gebr Heinemann teamed up with Diageo last month to run a Luxury Lounge promotion at Frankfurt airport that focused on the British company's premium reserve brands.

The highlight of the two-month long promotion, which ran at Heinemann's Schengen B Travel Value & Duty Free shop, was Diageo's new ultra-premium Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V whisky, housed in a lacquer presentation case.

DFS at Singapore Changi airport is the only other outlet with the Blue Label product.

Other brands showcased were Cîroc vodka, Tanqueray No Ten gin, Talisker single malt and Bushmill's Irish whiskey.

Every customer who purchased a promoted product, received a gift , a glass from Scandinavian glassware brand Iittala.

Diageo Global Travel & Middle East trade marketing manager Constanze Vogel said: "The Luxury Lounge provided the perfect platform for our reserve brands. This exclusive reflects the value of the brands that we represent."

The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has welcomed last month's decision by the US Transport Security Administration to allow air passengers departing the US for international destinations to use security tamper-evident bags (STEBs) for carrying duty-free liquids.

The move aims to bring US aviation security measures closer to those of the EU and the council believes using the bags on US departing flights should substantially reduce confiscations when passengers transfer at European airports.

However, it could take months for the EU to formally approve the US decision, so it remains unclear whether the use of STEBs will have any immediate effect.

The ETRC plans to lobby the European Commission to quicken the process of security recognition between the EU and the US.

"I am delighted with this move by the TSA," said ETRC chairman Frank O'Connell. "We have been working hard with our colleagues in the US to achieve this for some time.

"Our immediate problem now is to attain recognition of this move by the EU as quickly as possible, and ensure business as normal for EU-bound passengers by the summer."

Mongolian drinks group APU plans to use duty-free as a key part of a strategy to introduce its two vodka brands to international markets. For the first time, the privately-owned company, which posted a turnover of US$50m in 2007, exhibited at the TFWA Asia-Pacific show last month .

APU's only notable export market to date is South Korea. Key product launches for the show included Bolor, a well-established vodka brand available in Mongolia since 1981, and Soyombo, a new super-premium vodka that was launched last November.

According to APU, Soyombo is already the leading super-premium vodka in Mongolia. Featuring a modern black tinted bottle with silver and black graphics and a matching embossed gift box, the packaging of Soyombo is described as "masculine, minimalist". It is priced in duty-free at US$20.

Explaining APU's plans for duty-free, export manager Dambinyam Bolortsetgeg said: "Our strategy is based on two main factors: the first being the rapid sales growth of white spirits and vodka in the world with the trendy culture to drink cocktails.

"Secondly, Mongolia is getting significantly popular as a new travel destination among tourists.

"People are interested not only in our unique culture and untouched nature, but in ecologically clean products made here in Mongolia too."

Established in 1942, APU is Mongolia's largest manufacturer of alcoholic drinks, producing 4 million litres of spirits and 18 million litres of beer last year .

Absolut Vodka, the flagship brand of V&S Absolut Spirits, revealed its latest promotional plan for 2008 at the TFWA show last month.

Absolut Masqu erade is a gift packaging concept that encases the vodka bottle in a zip-up red sequinned "dress".

The "in an Absolut world every night is a masquerade" campaign will be launched in travel retail outlets worldwide towards the end of the year.

Lotte Duty Free, the newly installed spirits and wine concessionaire at Seoul's Incheon airport, has unveiled ambitious new store concepts .

The retailer began its five-year contract at the South Korean airport in March and it is refurbishing most of the 12 stores under its control, including three anchor stores, one of which is located in a new 30-gate terminal.

Lotte Duty Free has decided to target high-spending passengers and is to introduce several ultra-premium lines, such as Johnnie Walker King George V, Ballantine's 30 Year Old, Rémy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl, and The Macallan Lalique. They will be on sale at a new Premium Shop focusing on ultra-premium lines.

Other store concepts planned to go live later this year include Asian Dream - a shop-in-shop focusing on sojus from Korea, Chinese spirits, as well as Japanese sakis - and a 100sq m wine shop showcasing premium Bordeaux wines and vintage Champagnes.

Seoul Incheon is widely considered to be one of Asia-Pacific's most important duty-free liquor locations, especially for Scotch whisky.

Liquor sales exceeded $80m last year, accounting for almost 10 per cent of the airport's duty-free turnover.

Brand owner Angus Dundee Distillers

Produced in Scotland

Size 70cl

Price £199, €275

Abv 40

Markets Selected international markets and travel retail

Contact dbaldwin@angusdundee.co.uk

Tomintoul Distillery has released a 1976 vintage single malt whisky, the oldest expression ever bottled by the distillery. The previous oldest bottling is the award-winning Tomintoul 27 Year Old.

This limited-edition vintage of just 3,000 bottles is supplied in cases of six.

Duncan Baldwin, brand development director, says: "This whisky has a wonderful nose with hints of rum-soaked raisins and a touch of fruity maltiness. The palate is round and soft with delicate tones of sweetness."

The Tomintoul range now consists of six expressions: Peaty Tang; 10, 16 and 27 Year Old; 12 Year Old finished in oloroso sherry casks and 1976 Vintage.

International travel retailer Dufry has signed a major distribution deal with Russian spirits group Gross Distilleries.

Moscow-based Gross Distil­leries, whose brand portfolio includes Russian Brilliant vodka and Slavyanska liqueurs, believes the new agreement will boost duty-free sales from 10 per cent of total exports to 30 per cent in 2008.

During the year, Dufry plans to introduce Russian Brilliant into its stores in Switzerland, Italy, the Canary Islands, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt and Sharjah (UAE).

"We are counting not only on Russian travellers," said Lubna Haj Issa Dufry, head of group corporate communications. "Gross Distilleries spends a lot of money pushing products with advertising , which could help attract customers of all nationalities."

Gross Distilleries' current export business is limited to the CIS and Baltic states, Germany, Slovakia and Israel.

Dufry operates over 450 duty-free and travel-retail stores worldwide and achieved a turnover of £66 million in the first nine months of 2007 .

In-flight retail sales onboard My Travel Airways Scandin­avia topped a record-breaking US$100 million last year with spirits and wine retaining its position as the charter airline's most important category.

The sector took a commanding 40 per cent share of the airline's in-flight retail turnover as Swedish and Norwegian passengers took advantage of the airline's long-standing pre-order service in greater numbers than before. Wine and spirit sales rose 7 per cent over 2006 with rum and New World wines proving the fastest-growing sub-categories.

The highest total spend across all categories on any one flight was reached on a flight from Oslo, Norway, to Phuket, Thailand, where sales topped US$76,000.

My Travel's popular pre-order service has been running for many years. Customers pre-order before flying and buy at the lower duty and VAT rates of their typically southern European destinations before picking up their purchase on arrival.

"We continue to benefit from the high domestic prices at the Norwegian and Swedish wine and spirit monopolies," commented My Travel Airways Scandinavia purchasing manager Lars Hjartbo. "The reason for last year's success was primarily the use of e-mail and SMS text messaging that allowed us to remind passengers to pre-order before departure ."

Last year My Travel Airways Scandinavia handled 1 million passengers.

• The Tortuga Rum Company has opened a new duty-paid shop in the centre of George Town, the capital of Grand Cayman. Offering over 300 wines and major brand name spirits, the 2,600 sq ft store caters to both tourists and locals. It operates a duty-free ordering service so that visitors can pick up their purchases at the airport before their return flight.
  
• Singapore has successfully applied for recognition of its airport security measures with the European Union. The island state is the first country to do so worldwide. It means passengers travelling from Singapore Changi airport and transferring at an EU airport are now allowed to take duty-free purchases of liquids, aerosols and gels onboard their connecting flights.
  
• Liquor put in a strong performance last year at the Middle East's biggest duty-free retailer, Dubai Duty Free. Sales grew 27 per cent to total US$115 million, making the category the retailer's second largest.
  
• Dutch brewer Heineken has entered into a three-year marketing partnership with Dutch and French national carriers KLM and Air France. The brand will be served on all KLM flights, and the majority of flights operated by Air France.
  
• World Duty Free is to open a luxury tasting bar aimed at malt whisky and Cognac connoisseurs in its new store at London Heathrow Terminal 5, which opens next month. The Connoisseur Bar will feature a team of specially trained bar staff, who will offer passengers one-to-one tasting sessions.

Delta Airlines has enlisted the services of Master Sommelier and TV host Andrea Robinson to overhaul its in-flight wine programme.

Robinson's first selection of wines will debut onboard the airline's Business Elite class this month with standard international and domestic first and standard classes following later in the year. The wines have been chosen to match a new five-course in-flight food service created by acclaimed Miami-based chef Michelle Bernstein.

Robinson sampled over 900 wines at Delta's Atlanta headquarters last year before making her final choice for the full 2008 programme, which runs to over 130,000 cases of wine and Champagne.

"Since wines can taste different in-flight, I've pain­stakingly chosen wines with enough flavour intensity to shine ? even at 30,000 feet," said Robinson.

Other duties for Robinson include "wine culture" seminars for the airline's flight attendants, and a regular series of 30-minute films on local foods and wines at some of Delta's top destinations.

Asia Pacific Breweries has opened its first themed airport bar in the centre of Singapore Changi's new Terminal 3.

Operated by HMSHost, the 1,600 sq ft Tiger Champions Bar is targeted at sport fans. Customers are able to view a wide range of sport publications and memorabilia in the quieter Tiger Den area, which has been fitted with sofas and lounge seats. Others will be able to watch various sports on eight large LCD screens placed about the bar in the so-called Tiger Arena.

Asia Pacific Breweries head of new business development Andrea Teo commented: "We wanted it to be the ultimate pit-stop for sport enthusiasts, and Tiger Beer fans awaiting transit. With different sections and individual concepts we are confident the bar will have something for both sport fans and beer lovers alike."

Besides Tiger Beer, other brands will be served at the outlet from over 30 regional breweries.

The airport's new US$1.75bn Terminal 3 opened last month, boosting Changi's annual passenger capacity by 22 million to reach 70 million.

Turkish duty-free operator ATÜ is predicting it will increase liquor and wine sales by over a third in 2008 at Istanbul's Atatürk airport.

In December last year AT Ü opened what it claimed was Europe's largest duty-free airport shop at Atatürk. Totalling a massive 2,500 sq m with 540 sq m of this space allocated to wine and spirits ; a smaller 700 sq m shop was also opened with nearly 280 sq m for this category.

ATÜ operations manager Ersan Arcan said the new shops stocked over 240 liquor brands. About 75 per cent of these products are not available in the Turkish domestic market. "Now that we have so much more space allocated to wine and liquor we have started to see the results ," he added. "Sales are up 35 per cent already this year and we expect to keep up this growth rate until the end of the year.

"Our shop's façade is more than 210 metres in length with free access. The shop is designed for limited-time shopping, which means the product categories are indicated clearly and customer service is quick and efficient."

Liquor accounts for nearly a fifth of the retailer's total turnover, with Scotch whisky generating almost 50 per cent of sales.

ATÜ is a joint venture firm comprising two Turkish airport construction companies and Turkish duty-free retailer Unifree, which is controlled by powerful German travel retailer Gebr Heinemann. The company is the sole 

duty-free concessionaire at Istanbul airport.

The liquor category performed better than any other product sector in European duty-free and travel-retail outlets over the first nine months of 2007 .

According to figures published by industry analyst Generation Group, on behalf of the European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) , total liquor sales rose by 12.2 per cent more than the same period the year before - nearly twice as fast as the increase in air passenger numbers, which grew at 6.2 per cent. No other product sector matched this growth.

Commenting on the figures, Generation Group president Yngve Bia said: "The results of liquor are fantastic and are good news for all those involved in this previously so badly battered category. It is evidently duty-paid sales to intra-European Union travellers that are driving sales. "

Brand owner Romain Bouchard

Produced in France

Size 75cl

Price €17.95, £15.99 -£17.99, US$38

A bv 12.5

Markets UK, US, Denmark, France and Holland

Contact export@pascalbouchard.com


This is said to be a new wine with a new style, packaging and target audience from Pascal Bouchard's eldest son, Romain.

The 32 -year -old took over the 3.37 h a domain, having rejoined the company in 2000, and has begun its official conversion to organic viticulture.

Aimed at Chablis lovers, the grapes were hand harvested in 2006 from the 2.82 ha planted , yielding 53 h l per h a . The average age of the vines is 27 and it produced 19,850 bottles last October.

• La Fée absinthe has released a lower-strength product targeted at price-conscious regional airports and charter airlines. La Fée NV is half the strength of the company's standard 68 per cent abv La Parisienne reference. A 70cl bottle will sell in duty-free at under £20.
  
• Morrison Bowmore Distillers has produced an exclusive limited-edition Bowmore single malt whisky to coincide with the opening of BAA's new London Heathrow Terminal 5 later this year. The new whisky was selected by BAA-owned World Duty Free.
  
• UK operator Alpha Group has opened a refurbished bar at Stockholm's Skavsta airport. The bar is 30m long, serving wines, beers, Champagnes and cocktails, as well as regular promotional activities from brands such as Carlsberg and Absolut.
  
• World Duty Free reports sales of the UK's traditional Christmas tipple Baileys soared by 40 per cent over the weekend of December 14-15. Non-vintage Champagne sales rose 11 per cent, while a trend for trading-up led to an 18 per cent rise for prestige varieties.
  
• William Grant & Sons has produced a rare and exclusive expression of The Balvenie malt whisky for Paris Charles de Gaulle retailer Aelia. The Balvenie Single Cask 1970 is priced at €680 and only 191 bottles are available.
  
• A French luxury food retailer has created a branded wine corner in a new diplomatic shop run by Tunisian operator Hamila Duty Free in downtown Tunis, which opened in November. Wines stocked range in price from €10-€35.
  
  
  
  

Alfa Brands has signed a distribution agreement with Childress Vineyards covering the North American duty-free market .

North Carolina-based Childress Vineyards was set up in 2004 by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, one of the US stock car racing competition's best-known personalities.

His company owns 100 acres of vineyards and produces more than 30 wines, but the initial selection for duty-free customers will be smaller, concentrating on the winery's proprietary house blends, which in duty-free will range in price from US$10.99-$19.99.

Traditional distribution of Childress' wines has previously been limited to restaurants, liquor stores and grocery stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Florida and Tennessee. However, the winery does ship nationwide from its online store.

Alfa Brands operations manager Amy Hildreth said: "NASCAR is the fastest growing spectator sport in North America and it has a strong following all over the US and Canada . We are putting together our marketing plans for consumer promotions and we will be offering them to operators on a store-by-store basis."

Japan Airlines (JAL) has listed one of the world's rarest Champagnes, Champagne Salon, in first class on all its flights from Tokyo to London, New York and Paris.

Passengers will be able to try Champagne Salon 1997 before the 100 per cent Chardonnay Champagne is sold domestically in April this year. Only 60,000 bottles of the vintage Champagne have been released.

Created by Eugène Aimé Salon, Champagne Salon is produced in Le Mesnil sur Oger from wines grown in the Côte des Blancs region. The house produces no non-vintage or rosé Champagnes, and new vintages only tend to appear every 10 years.

JAL public relations manager Stephen Pearlman said: "The Japanese have become more adventurous in their wine taste so the importance of offering a wide selection has increased. We're hoping Champagne Salon will become the talk of the town."

Cypriot duty-free operator CTC-ARI Airports plans to upgrade its award-winning Uisge Beatha shop concept when the retailer switches to new airports planned for Paphos and Larnaca.

The company opened the Uisge Beatha malt whisky shops earlier this year at the existing airports serving Paphos and Larnaca. Both are due to be replaced by larger facilities over the next two years. Retail space in Larnaca will increase to 4,000sq m and in Paphos 1,000sq m.

The Uisge Beatha store concept sought to demystify the complex world of malt whisky for new consumers and exploit its collect ability by using highly trained staff, free educational literature and tasting promotions to introduce new consumers to the world of malt.

Uisge Beatha went on to win the coveted industry accolade of Best Speciality Concept Frontier Award at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes .

"The shops at the new airports will take whisky retailing to a new level," said CTC-ARI general manager Gerry Crawford.

"I am increasingly struck by the sameness of much of the duty-free retail you encounter at airports worldwide, which is why at the new airports we are going to do something radically different from a whisky perspective. There will be interactive displays and we are going to become very sophisticated in being able to match whiskies with consumers' preferences, which is crucial for gifting."

Crawford added he knew the overall concept would be successful, but was surprised at how well the two existing Uisge Beatha outlets had performed . Top-shelf references such as Glenfiddich 50 Year Old, The Dalmore 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ladyburn 1973, The Macallan 50 Year Old, Tobermory 32 Year Old and The Glenlivet 25 Year Old have been added to fill out the retailer's ultra-premium offer.

"We listed Glenfiddich 50 Year Old, had a bespoke display unit produced and sold the first bottle in nine days, the second bottle in 10 days, and it has gone on from there," said Crawford. "Due to the amazing results in the old and rare [category] we now have companies coming to us with special expressions before they are launched, which is excellent, considering six months ago we had to fight for allocation. We have taken all the remaining stock of Glenfiddich 1974 and 1876 Vintage and are listing Auchentoshan 30 Year Old in the coming weeks.

"Selling is the key - we pursue a soft sell approach and our sales assistants are highly trained. Some of our staff have visited 16 major distilleries in the past seven months and this really makes the difference - they can confidently interact with consumers. We have specialised and focused on distillery editions as we feel this is where consumers can be attracted to trade up."

Joint-venture operator Travel Free sro has opened a new duty-paid store on the German-Czech border crossing of Selb-A?.

The crossing is used by more than 400,000 Germans a month , many of whom take advantage of cheaper prices on spirits, wine and tobacco .

Customers can legally take home up to 10 litres of strong spirits, 20 litres of spirits below 22 per cent abv, 90 litres of wine, and 110 litres of beer.

Ralf Tiedt, eastern Europe manager at Gebr Heinemann, one of the companies involved in the joint venture, said: "O ur business relationships in the Czech Republic have enabled us to convince those involved of the benefits of maintaining these border shops."

Speakers at the annual Middle Eastern Duty-Free Association conference held in Dubai last month delivered an upbeat forecast for the travel retail business for 2008 based on continuing regional economic growth, rocketing passenger traffic and ambitious airport expansion plans.

MEDFA president Anthony Chalhoub told delegates that regional passenger traffic had grown 17.8 per cent in the first half of 2007, well ahead of the global average, with airports such as Dubai (+26 per cent), Qatar (+50 per cent) and Sharjah (+36 per cent) leading the way.

Airport expansion projects are at an all-time high, he noted, citing the examples of Bahrain, which has increased its capacity from 7 million to 15 million, and Abu Dhabi, which has grown from 6 million to 20 million.

The Middle East accounted for less than 4 per cent of total duty-free wine and spirits sales in 2006, but Pernod Ricard Gulf general manager David Freeborn told the MEDFA conference that the regional trends for liquor were positive, with value outpacing volume as customers moved towards premiumisation.

The high percentage of wealthy ex-pat workers travelling to and from the region, as well as the increasing importance of affluent Asian transit passengers at Middle Eastern airports, makes the market an important location for super-premium products .

Diageo Global Travel & Middle East corporate relations director Tim Rycroft sounded a more cautionary note, however. In his speech he warned the audience that in the light of World Health Organization and individual government s' crackdown on the harmful effects of alcohol, retailers should consider the positive promotion of responsible drinking in their stores.

European Travel Retail Council president Frank O'Connell gave an update on how the global aviation security restrictions are impacting the region. He warned that if Middle Eastern retailers wanted to continue to sell liquor and fragrances to passengers transiting within the EU, their respective countries would have to formally apply to the EU to have their aviation security standards mutually recognised. "There is no other way of doing this now or for another three years, at least," he said.

To date, only Dubai has applied to the EU for recognition.

The head of Maxxium Global Travel Retail has expressed hope that the new owner of World Duty Free will continue the UK travel retailer's long-standing commitment to the liquor category.

It was announced last month that WDF, which owns 67 shops at seven UK airports, including London Heathrow and Gatwick, is to be sold by Ferrovial, the Spanish owner of its parent company BAA.

With the overall liquor and wine category accounting for about a fifth of the company's total turnover, WDF is one of the UK's largest sellers of malt whisky and Champagne.

Commenting on the implications of the sale, MGTR president Erik Juul-Mortensen told DI: "I hope that a new owner, whoever that will be, will share some of the values which are driving the liquor business at WDF.

"At a time when some operators were putting less emphasis on spirits, WDF showed its faith in the category through the ultimate liquor store concept at Heathrow Terminal 4. It proved successful and has been taken forward to other [Heathrow] terminals.

"There is clear understanding on the part of WDF of putting the customer first," he added. "There is also a policy of building strong supplier partnerships through a very challenging, but fair, co-operation, transparency through information sharing and the constant investment in stores."

With its prime airport locations, high footfall and healthy financial state, the WDF sale is expected to generate high levels of industry interest. The acquisition is expected to be completed by mid-2008.

Tiger Export PTE , the global distributor of Tiger Beer, has reported encouraging growth for its in-flight pouring business in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Tiger Export, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia Pacific Breweries , has benefited from the boom in low-cost air travel in both Asia and India, picking up listings with new carriers such as JetStar Asia. There has also been increased demand from existing customers such as Singapore Airlines, leading the company to try and improve global supply to in-flight accounts.

In Europe, Tiger Export has managed to secure its first major in-flight listing for Tiger beer with Irish national carrier Aer Lingus. The brand is also available on a limited number of bmi and MyTravel flights.

"We want to build on this [Aer Lingus listing]," said market development manager for Asia, Middle East and duty-free, Hoshang Mehta. "Tiger is positioned in Europe as a premium import and we are seeing fantastic results in our distribution and market coverage in domestic markets. "

Back in Asia, Tiger Export PTE is experiencing good growth with airport retailer DFS Group at Singapore Changi airport. "We offer DFS a complete portfolio of beers ranging from popular local premium to import premium brands," said Mehta.

"We are also going to be launching an exclusive hand-crafted range of beers there, which I believe will be a first in the industry."

Despite these promising developments, Mehta believes that too many travel-retail operators fail to see beer's potential.

"We think beer can be profitable, especially for import brands such as Tiger, and we wish that travel retail would be more open and experimental to try something beyond the ordinary.

"The same goes for airlines," he added. "Most seem to carry one to two beer brands only and the tender award is often given to the lowest-priced and most internationally available mainstream brands."

UK airport retailer World Duty Free has expanded its white spirits offer with the exclusive UK launch of Pinky vodka.

The brand, which is produced with 12 botanicals, including violet and rose petals, giving it a bright pink colour, sold 300 bottles priced at £19.99 each in the first five days of being on the shel ves.

Commenting on the launch, WDF head

of category for liquor, Fraser Dunlop, said: "We are delighted to offer yet another WDF exclusive and, in this instance, such a beautiful one.

"With a broad range of world-class brands, along with our many exciting exclusives, we

are encouraging passengers to arrive early to take advantage."

HMS Host, the largest airport food and beverage operator in the US, has reported strong sales of imported and craft beers.

"We see people ordering higher-end beer," said HMS Host vice-president concept development, Stan Novack. "They are bypassing premium brands such as Budweiser, Miller and Coors to order craft beers such as Sam Adams and Gordon Biersch.

"Imported brands such as Heineken and Corona are doing well too . These days it seems having a discerning taste for beer is as important as having a discerning taste for wine in the US."

Sales of premium light beers are up too. Best sellers in this segment include Heineken Premium Light, Amstel Light and Michelob Ultra.

In recent years HMS Host has started to work with local breweries to operate region-specific airport bars. "In Oregon we have worked with Shipyard Brewing, while in California, we have worked with Karl Strauss, Redondo Beach Brewery, Manhattan Beach Brewery and Pyramid Ales," said Novack. "Gordon Biersch and Sam Adams are available at our [airport] bars throughout the US and, of course, we're still working with national distributors like Budweiser."

HMS Host is also doing more to promote beer as an accompaniment to food. "We have created specific tasting promotions, where we have paired certain beers with certain foods," he added. "For instance, we matched Sam Adams beer with Crab Louis salads and crab cakes."

Part of Italian travel catering giant Autogrill, HMS Host operates outlets at 19 of the US's 20 busiest airports.

Recent consumer research undertaken by Diageo has cast doubt on whether price is a key consideration for duty-free spirits buyers.

The research challenges one of the cornerstones of the industry - that the channel must offer a significant price saving over the domestic market.

The research consisted of interviews with more than 600 spirits buyers travelling through Singapore, Frankfurt and New York JFK airports. Half of the respondents were residents in the respective countries and half were foreign visitors.

One of the research's key findings was that more than 80 per cent of travellers think travel retail is either "good value" or "very good value". Fifty per cent of respondents' total spirits purchases were made in travel retail and more than 40 per cent bought spirits every time they travelled .

Another surprising find is that 65 per cent of buyers had no expectation of how much money they were going to spend on liquor before arriving at the airport. Moreover, half of respondents couldn't recall what price they paid in the duty-free store they had just visited.

Global Travel & Middle East commercial director, Peter Jacobson, said: "In this industry we have an obsession with price as the main driver of purchases.

"However, although purchasers will always say price is important to them if asked directly, our findings show that price is not the be all and end all of every decision."

The EU Aviation Security Committee has given its backing to the European Travel Retail Council's proposal for a "unique identifier" label. The idea will allow liquids and gels bought by transfer passengers at approved non-EU airports to be officially identified.

At present stringent EU aviation security rules mean that transfer passengers, who started their journeys from non-EU airports, risk having their liquid duty-free purchases confiscated by security staff.

ETRC president Frank O'Connell described the security committee's decision as a "significant breakthrough for the travel retail industry. "With the backing of both the industry and the EU Aviation Security Committee we can now take the last steps to ensur e that transfer passengers from approved third-party countries can travel freely with their duty-free liquids. I would therefore reiterate our call to the industry to work with their national governments across the world to secure recognition from the EU."

Although the exact design of the "unique identifier" label has yet to be finalised, D I understands it will be placed separately inside sealed, tamper-evident bags along with the goods. It will also be time sensitive, becoming inactive a round 36 hours after the purchase is made.

The label will be ready for use by the end of the year and Singapore is expected to become the first country to get its aviation security regime officially approved by the EU.

The Edrington Group has released a new aged travel-retail exclusive reference for its fast-growing Orcadian single malt whisky Highland Park.

The new 21 Year Old expression joins five other variants in the brand family, slotting in between the 18 and 25 Year Old references. Priced at US$99, the new 47.5 per cent abv whisky has already been listed with Pan-Asian duty-free retailer DFS Group and UK airport shop operator World Duty Free.

Edrington's area director for global travel retail, William Ovens, said: "The introduction of the 21 Year Old extends our range of aged variants to six, so Highland Park has the widest range of aged expressions of any single malt brand in the channel."

Duty free is the second biggest market for Highland Park after the UK.

Sales grew year on year by 15 per cent - only bettered in the single malt sector by The Macallan .

• Duty-free distributor Haleybrooke International has struck a deal with Cognac Louis Royer to distribute Gold Flakes Supreme vodka in the Americas and other selected duty-free markets. The four-times distilled, US$55 French vodka, which contains 24- carat gold flakes, is launching simultaneously on the US domestic market.
  
• Distilleria Bottega is to distribute two new Italian wine brands in duty-free in addition to its own range of grappas, liqueurs , sparkling wines, Cantine Al Bano Carrisi from Apulia and Lombardy-based Fratelli Berlucchi.
  
• Heineken duty-free and travel retail global account manager airports, Melvin Broekaart, has left the company.
  
• Erstwhile director of travel retail at Whyte & Mackay, Andy Lane, has been been given the same position at Ian Macleod Distillers. Lane had been working with Ian Macleod for the past six months as a freelance consultant to help shape the company's new travel-retail strategy.
  
• The Glenrothes has launched a super-premium travel-retail exclusive reference. The Glenrothes 25 Year Old will be available at leading duty-free retailers priced at £180 per 70cl bottle. Only 2,400 bottles have been released.
  
• Balblair Highland Single Malt Whisky has introduced a 1986 vintage exclusively for travel retail. Matured in American oak ex-bourbon casks this unchill-filtered malt is available in limited quantities. Rrp £55 for 1-litre duty-free.

lovethatwine.co.uk, which claims to be the UK's leading independent resource for wine drinkers, is to expand its services to Facebook and Google. Its pilot on social networking site Facebook has attracted 200 members, says the company. For the iGoogle daily wine widget, lovethatwine has created a "recommended wine of the day" that will be sent to millions of desktops worldwide. Users opt in to the daily wine on their home pages. The choice is based on seasonal, topical and user recommendations. Next year lovethatwine says it plans to use mobile or cell phone technology and PDA platforms to extend the message.

The Brown-Forman travel retail team, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is getting a shake-up in 2008.

Patrick Moran, managing director of Brown-Forman Travel Retail is to retire on May 1 .

Jim Perry, who joined the company as a government relations manager in 2000 and moved to the duty free/travel retail team on ­

October 1, has been named his successor.

Ian Macleod Distillers has added a single malt to its Glengoyne range exclusively for travel retail.

Burnfoot comprises Glengoyne single malt s that have been aged for up to 34 years and has an rrp of €36.

Ian Macleod is hoping to attract "a new, curious and aspiring target audience" to the product, which features fluorescent colour and contemporary typography on the label.

Ian Weir, marketing director for Ian Macleod Distillers, said: "Using a healthy ­percentage of first fill sherry casks, it offers a slightly smoother and sweeter taste than certain other variants in the Glengoyne range, but at the same time retains the distinctive qualities and depth of the whisky. It is therefore ideally positioned to appeal directly to whisky drinkers new to the Glengoyne brand".

The distiller has also added a "big brother" to its Smokehead Islay Single Malt brand. Smokehead Extra Rare is a premium offer exclusive to travel retail in 1-litre packaging at a rrp of E40/US$55.

Europe's duty-free industry is struggling to persuade governments worldwide to apply to the EU for a formal and mutual recognition of aviation security standards.

This was the stark message at a workshop held at the TFWA exhibition in Cannes last month.

The lack of a uniform security protocol for the carrying of liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) in transit poses a threat to duty-free sales, claims the European Travel Retail Council. And, to compound the situation, ETRC's campaign also faces a funding shortfall.

The workshop was told that this "stumbling block" was causing passengers transferring in the EU from flights originating at non-EU countries to have their liquid duty-free goods confiscated.

Goods were being taken even if they were in transparent, tamper-proof bags.

ETRC president Frank O'Connell said the campaign to find workable solutions for duty-free sales while these security restrictions were in place was now at a crucial point.

"Great strides have been made in new legislation which allows liquid goods from authorised countries to be allowed into Europe. The supply chain for tax-free luxury goods in the airport retailing environment is an inherently secure business which has given us credibility with the authorities," said O'Connell. "However, we are in danger of losing this credibility if more countries do not take up this opportunity and make an application [to the EU]."

O'Connell also warned of a funding shortfall. "A huge number of companies have contributed nothing , despite the fact that it affects us all. We only have money to keep us going for two months - we need more donations."

It was revealed at the workshop that authorities recognise the need to adopt scanning equipment capable of detecting and identifying potentially explosive substances in just two to three seconds.

But the reality is, O'Connell warned, that it will be two to three years before such equipment is available and installed at security check points on a global front.

O'Connell said that in the meantime it was essential that as many countries as possible made a formal application to the EU. But just five nations in the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) have applied - Australia, Argentina, Singapore, Croatia and Dubai.

Comments by workshop attendees reveal that the LAG issue is a low diplomatic priority for most countries.

And in some cases, most notably South Africa and Japan, deals are unlikely to be struck as neither country recognises that the EU is a single authority that can represent all 2 7 member states.

Another pressing concern is the lack of a reciprocal agreement with the US Transport Security Administration . At present anyone transferring in the US on a flight from South America will have duty-free liquor confiscated. This is not the case for transfer passengers on US-originating flights switching planes at South American airports.

In Asia, the transfer issue only applies within three countries: India, Japan and Australia.

Criollo Supreme Brands has struck a duty-free and travel-retail distribution deal with Armagnac Chabot for its brand Sempé Armagnac.

The brand encompasses Benelux countries, France and outlets of the Nuance Group Europe.

Criollo managing director Jo Raskin said the Armagnac could play a small but important role in the duty-free operators' liquor offer. "I travel regularly and am convinced that the travel-retail liquor business is moving towards specialist shops. Armagnac is a niche product, but every shop should have a small selection ," he said.

"We should remember that as Cognac becomes more scarce, Armagnac is an excellent alternative."

Criollo, based in Belgium, has also added an Irish cream liqueur to its spirits portfolio, which will be available in the same European markets as Sempé.

Coole Swan liqueur was launched in March this year and is independently owned. It has been listed by UK luxury department store Selfridges and it will be in Nuance's hands next month.

V&S Absolut Spirits is to widen the distribution of its first travel-retail exclusive line extension - the male-oriented Absolut 100 - after a highly successful six months .

The Swedish company has selected 100 top style bars worldwide for the roll-out of the new, higher-strength vodka from January next year. The participating bars, which will promote the product with various Absolut 100 cocktails, include Below Zero in London, Pontus! in Stockholm, Nobu in Milan and the Beach Road Hotel in Sydney.

V&S duty-free distributor, Maxxium Global Travel Retail (MGTR), will support the initiative with promotions at relevant airport shops, including a consumer guide to the bars.

"With this bar launch we take the collaboration between global travel retail and domestic markets a step further," said Anders Olsson, director of V&S Absolut Spirits Global Travel Retail.

"We see the campaign as an effort to generate hype in preparation of future domestic market launches, while further boosting sales in travel retail," he added.

The travel-retail channel's growing importance to Absolut is underlined by new flavour Absolut Mango, which will launch exclusively in travel retail in February 2008 before a wider roll-out.

Gruppo Campari unveiled two additions to its spirits portfolio at the TFWA World Exhibition last month in the shape of X-Rated, a so-called fusion liqueur, and Jean-Marc XO, a super-premium vodka.

The Italian spirits group acquired both brands from Daucourt Martin Imports in July this year for US$40m. X-Rated is a 17 per cent abv, bright-pink liqueur made from blood oranges, mangoes, passion fruit and vodka. Targeted at young, fun-loving women, Campari believes the brand, which was launched in 2004 and sells mainly in the US, has no direct competitors.

X-Rated will retail in European travel retail for €26-28 for a litre bottle.

"We have done tastings in markets such as the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Russia, and the early results are really promising," said Virginie Marquet, Campari's area director for duty-free (below).

Jean-Marc XO is a €40-45 super-premium vodka, made from a blend of four different French wheat grains and distilled nine times. Presented in individually numbered bottles, Campari believes the brand is a natural fit for sales at high-end duty-free shops, in first-class airline shopping offers and onboard luxury cruise lines.

Campari also revealed plans to expand its Monaco-based duty-free team . From January next year the company will seek to hire additional sales managers dedicated to specific regional markets worldwide, and more promotional co-ordinators.

Campari's most important duty-free brands are Campari, Skyy vodka, Glen Grant malt whisky and Cinzano.

l Asia's largest duty-free retailer, DFS Group, is to relocate its merchandising office for liquor, tobacco, watches and jewellery from its headquarters in San Francisco to Hong Kong from January next year. DFS Group global vice-president for liquor and tobacco John Hoover will move to Hong Kong as part of the relocation.

l Ylva Persson, William Grant & Son's high-profile global travel-retail director, has left the company after less than two years in the job. Managing director for Asia and global travel-retail Kevin Fong will temporarily assume Persson's responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found.

l BAA-owned World Duty Free and British Airways are trialling a new home delivery service which allows UK passengers to order five malt whiskies from WDF's World of Whiskies stores and have them delivered to their home address. The trial will run until December this year.

l Nuance is to list Belvedere Duty Free's entire Danzka Vodka portfolio as well as Belvedere's Sobieski Estate and Wisent (Bison Grass) vodkas from Poland, plus Marie Brizard liqueurs and Gautier Cognacs, in all of its pan-European duty-free locations.

Joint-venture travel retailer Société de Distribution Aéroportuaire has reported stronger than expected sales of fine French wine at its two liquor stores in the recently opened S3 Terminal of Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

SDA, a joint venture between France's largest duty-free operator, Aelia, and airport owner Aéroports de Paris , runs two Pure & Rare liquor and wine shops in the e570 million terminal, which opened in June this year.

Premium wine already accounts for 15 per cent of total wine sales at the shops, and the highest single sales transaction for wine so far has been e7,200.

The focus of the 300sq m liquor and tobacco shop is the Oenothèque - an enclosed zone showcasing rare and precious wines, including collectors' items such as a magnum of Château Petrus at e14,000, a bottle of Mouton Rothschild 1945 at e13,800, and two bottles of Petrus 2001, each priced e2,000.

The main 300-strong wine selection is organised by region with Bordeaux and Burgundy proving the most popular among customers.

"Wine has really taken off since we opened in the summer," said Aelia liquor, wine and Champagne buyer Philippe Lanusse. "We are seeing high double-digit sales growth, which is testament to the fantastic selection we have been able to put together because of the good relationship we have with all the top French wine producers."

American , Canadian and Chinese travellers have been spending the most on wine since the terminal opened.

Whisky is also a key category in the new shops. More than 200 varieties are stocked, including a number of malt expressions exclusive to SDA . Among these are Glenfiddich 1975, Caol Ila 1994 and Edradour 1993 Burgundy Finish.

High-end Cognacs sold include Rémy Martin Louis XIII at e1,150 and Hennessy Richard at e1,240.

Alpha Retail has revamped the wine range for one of its largest shops at Terminal 1 of Manchester International airport .

Alpha, which also runs shops in 11 other British regional airports, including Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle, undertook consumer research which revealed that average spend per customer on wine in its airport stores was £7 per bottle, about £3 higher than on the UK high street.

In response to this data Alpha has devised a new wine offer at Manchester with four distinct selections.

These comprise an everyday selection with wines priced £5 -£10; a cellar collection of about 16 wines in the £10 -£15 price bracket ; a

premium selection ranging from £15 -£135 ; and a changing promotional selection of price-driven deals.

Another innovation for Alpha will be a focus on wines not normally associated with UK travel retail, such as Canadian icewines and seasonal wines such as rosés.

There will also be more gifting options , including

gift-packed cavas, wine literature and accessories.

Wine expert Peter Ayling, formerly of Allied Domecq Duty Free and now a freelance consultant, helped mastermind Alpha's new approach to wine at Manchester airport.

"The wine offer in the travel retail channel has traditionally taken second place to spirits, a result of the lack of distinction from the high street in terms of offer and price point," said Alpha Retail international director Martin Petchey.

"By using our customer research, extensive knowledge of the travel-retail sector and Peter's expertise we feel that we have come up with a range of wines that will really appeal to our customers."

Opened in 1962, Terminal 1 is Manchester airport's busiest terminal, handling international flights from Air Canada, BMI, Iberia, Olympic, Lufthansa and SAS.

The European Parliament has voted to scrap the year-old airport security restrictions in the European Union on liquids in hand luggage .

MEPs believe the rules, which have disrupted liquor sales to transfer passengers both within and beyond the E U, "caused substantial inconvenience" to travellers and were not effective in preventing terrorist attacks.

European Commissioner for Transport Jacques Barrot reacted angrily, saying: "Europe must not lower its guard, but on the contrary reinforce its vigilance and maintain the prevention instruments it has adopted."

Liquor suppliers are worried that the problem of liquids confiscated from transfer passengers unaware of the rules is causing long-term damage to duty-free.

"I don't think we will know the impact on consumer confidence to purchase in travel-retail for a while as a large number of the people affected are the less frequent travellers, and next time they travel they are much less likely to purchase," said Ian Williams, Pernod Ricard Travel Retail managing director Europe.

Premium blends have always been the linchpin of the duty-free whisky category in the Middle East but the region's largest operator, Dubai Duty Free , has noticed a significant jump in malt sales .

Sales of malt whisky rose 32 per cent in the first half of 2007 despite DDF suffering from a lack of floor space to showcase the category properly. By contrast, overall whisky sales increased only 23 per cent, lagging behind overall liquor sales, which were up 28 per cent in the same period.

"We believe that as customers get more sophisticated in choosing their whisky they will increasingly switch from blended to single malt whiskies to highlight their status, taste and superiority over regular whisky drinkers," said DDF purchasing and research manager Sharon Beecham.

She added that DDF's recent introduction of limited quantities of The Macallan 40 Year Old was proof that regional travellers' tastes were becoming more sophisticated.

And, in another sign of the growing market for malts, Dubai-based distributor The Dead Whisky Society now provides DDF with rare, ­collectable whiskies from mothballed distilleries such as Dallas Dhu.

DDF is also seeing strong sales growth for the bourbon sector, where sales grew by nearly 35 per cent in the first half of 2007. Premium lines such as Makers Mark, Gentleman Jack, Jack Daniel's Silver Select and Jim Beam Black are driving the trend.

A higher percentage of Russian travellers have helped boost The Nuance Group's liquor business at Turkey's Antalya airport this year .

Flight changes at the airport's Terminal 1 have resulted in fewer Dutch and German passengers passing through and an increase in higher-spending Russian travellers.

Swiss travel-retailer Nuance has run a joint venture with local operator Net Holding to operate the main departure and arrivals shops at the terminal since 1998.

"We've sold more Rémy Martin XIII Cognac at Antalya this year than we have in some of our Swiss airport stores," said Nuance category manager for liquor, tobacco and food, Europe, Pascal Delmotte. "It's all down to the increased number of Russian travellers."

The strong performance of Nuance's Antalya operation has helped increase the company's European liquor sales by almost 14 per cent .

Another strong liquor performer was the company's fledgling operation at Malta international airport, which has benefited from the recent opening of a new duty-paid, walk-through arrivals concept called SWIFT - Easy Shopping!

The showing from Malta and Antalya has helped offset more challenging locations such as Stockholm Arlanda and Amsterdam Schiphol , both affected by EU security restrictions on liquids .

Canadian border shop owner Blue Water Bridge Duty Free is battling increasingly tough trading conditions by investing in a refurbished and expanded liquor area.

Work should be completed later this year and will double the size of the liquor department . A wine boutique dedicated to local Canadian icewine is also being installed.

Leading suppliers have supported the retailer with customised merchandising units, many of which will be new to travel-retail .

"For instance, Diageo is building a Diageo Malts Vision unit, which will ­incorporate a holographic, inter­­active display into the gondola," vice-president of sales Tania Lee-Hartmann told DI. "Customers will be able to touch a screen, at which point a holographic image will come out at them with the different regions of Scotland and information on malts in that area."

Prior to embarking on the project, Blue Water hired a consumer research firm to conduct exit surveys at its store to determine the identity of its customers; how they shopped; what products they were looking for; and ways to to increase their spending.

"The [research company] then briefed the design company on the results and came up with a traffic pattern and category design layout of the new renovation," said Lee-Hartmann.

Cointreau is aiming to dispel the staid, after-dinner image often associated with the high-strength liqueurs category with a new travel-retail take on its Be Cointreauversial marketing campaign.

The Be Cointreauversial - Lips promotion involved in-store tastings of the Cointreaupolitan (Cointreau, cranberry juice and lemon juice). Rolled out across stores at Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol airports and onboard Stena Line over the summer, the promotion also incorporated high visibility display units and selective promotional offers, which together often resulted in sales tripling.

Rémy Cointreau trade category manager Pascale Dubos said the target consumer for the brand was a "charismatic professional woman" in the 25-35 age group. "They are well established, know what they like, and are not afraid to go out and get it. These women are independent; they like to socialise and look for stylish drinks such as trendy cocktails, which demonstrate who they are," she added.

Dubos believes the cocktail boom in the US, UK and other mature spirits markets is transforming the fortunes of the liqueur category.

"Consumers are ready to be educated about the versatility of hard liquor as a base for mixed drinks," she said. "Travel-retail offers a stage through which we can serve this market, but we need space to demonstrate cocktails to the browsing consumer."

Diageo Global Travel & Middle East has sold almost 2 million bottles of Baileys Mint Chocolate and Crème Caramel since their launch two years ago.

The performance of the two flavour extensions helped the liqueur brand to increase overall duty-free sales by 11 per cent in the year ending June 30. Promising duty-free markets for Baileys in this period included Asia, Russia and, most importantly in terms of volume, Latin America.

"There is no sign of the ­customers getting tired of the flavours," said G T M E marketing director Nick Robinson. "They are still not available in all duty-free areas and there are still many travellers who are unaware of them.

"All initiatives therefore will continue to include the flavours and we expect further volume growth ."

The other star duty-free performer for Diageo was Johnnie Walker, which saw sales rise 8 per cent. The launch of the US$400 ultra-premium Johnnie Walker Blue Label George V earlier this year proved particularly effective in spurring sales of the less expensive Blue Label .

In terms of duty-free and travel-retail markets Europe was relatively sluggish for Diageo in the year to June 30, returning low, single-digit sales growth. In contrast, the Americas grew much faster, while forward momentum in Asia/Pacific started to slow, despite encouraging rises in super-premium sales.

Overall duty-free volumes for the company rose 7 per cent, while net sales grew 8 per cent.