TFWA 2025: China forces a rethink of duty-free

The global duty-free industry’s China challenge came into sharp focus at the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference 2025, where Asian attendance plummeted to 17% of visitors from 25% in 2024, even as the Cannes event posted record numbers. Exhibiting brands responded with a clear message: adapt to value-conscious Chinese consumers through lower price points, travel retail exclusives, and marketing that emphasizes quality over prestige. Despite the regional shift, TFWA 2025 posted its strongest performance to date. The five-day event attracted 7,999 visitors — up 7% from 7,456 in 2024 — while retailers and landlords, the most crucial attendee category, topped 3,000 for the first time, up 6% year-on-year. Exhibition space expanded to more than 26,500 sqm from 25,000 sqm, and exhibitor numbers rose 4% to 482 companies. The exhibition brought together a diverse array of brands — luxury houses like Bally, Chanel and Hermès alongside spirits producers like Lanson and travel goods from Samsonite and Tumi — all housed at the Palais des Festivals, the venue also known for hosting the Cannes Film Festival. Europe dominated attendance with 57% of visitors, while the Middle East (excluding Turkey) accounted for 11%. TFWA’s dedicated Asia-Pacific event in May has become the preferred gathering for regional travel retailers, but the Cannes attendance drop also reflects broader challenges: unpredictable Chinese consumer spending that is forcing global travel retail suppliers to reassess their strategies. From luxury to accessibly premium: The shift in strategy Attilio Briccola, CEO of luggage maker Bric’s told Jing Daily: “Generally speaking the (global) market is tough, but China is particularly difficult. Chinese consumers have changed a lot. They are spending less, especially on luxury, which can be an opportunity for us as they look for brands with more value.” Bric's, with its Italian roots and hand-crafted leather goods positioned at accessible luxury price points, is focusing on digital channels in China. “The cost of having a monobrand store is incredibly high,” Briccola said, explaining why the brand partners with China Duty Free Group (CDF) online only — a strategy he views as financially viable and a potential stepping stone to airport pop-ups in Shanghai. Pre-Covid, 30% of sales at the Bric’s Milan flagship came from Chinese customers, suggesting existing brand awareness that could support future expansion. This shift toward value and quality over brand prestige mirrors broader changes in Chinese consumer behavior. In the automotive category, for instance, domestic brands like BYD, Geely and Chery have gained significant market share from traditional luxury marques such as Porsche and Mercedes-Benz — a trend now emerging in some European markets as well. For duty-free retailers, the implications are clear: product quality and value propositions increasingly trump Western brand heritage alone. Travel exclusives gain prominence In duty-free, the trend of assessing product quality versus price tag is prompting brands to add more accessibly-priced luxury options. Italy’s Furla is one example. CEO Eraldo Poletto, back in the role last year after leading the company from 2010 to 2016, said: “Chinese society is moving at an amazing speed. It is an important market for us.” “We started in Hainan at the very beginning,” he said. “The key in travel retail is to innovate and create items that are exclusive to the channel so the consumer experience is different. The opportunity in premium luxury in China is to always surprise the customer with something they did not expect.” The brand is also leveraging social media to reach consumers directly. Poletto said that Western luxury maisons needed to be on their toes as Chinese brands are now emerging that can rival them on quality and detail. “They also know the customer better than anyone else,” he added. Taking note of the changing travel retail market, Thélios — the eyewear business of LVMH Group — has released its first-ever travel exclusive line. The product, for Bulgari, is part of the B.zero1 sunglasses family, and, at around 360 euros ($416), is the entry price to the house’s eyewear. Fergus Lam, Asia-Pacific travel retail manager at Thélios told Jing Daily: “Chinese spending power has fallen and sell-out of high-priced products is slower, so we need to offer more attractive options. Hence our first travel exclusive line.” Paul Scanlon, the newly arrived head of commercial at CVH Spirits, whose portfolio includes single malts like Bunnahabhain, Deanston, Tobermory, said: “We will have a range of four travel retail exclusive products for Bunnahabhain in 2026 at moderate prices. The Chinese used to buy 25- and 30-year-old malts a few years ago, but now they’re buying 21yo or 18yo.” At Proximo, the owner of Bushmills Irish whiskey, the strategy for Chinese travel retail is similar. Roy Summers, head of global travel retail, said: “There is headroom to grow in China despite its challenges. We’re ensuring we have the right price ladder, with entry-level products covered, but also having age-statements in the relevant places, and that the majority of our range is exclusive to travel retail.” Food and gifting go premium and personal The downward price shift is not stopping some brands. Spanish wine, spirits and fine food specialist Osborne, has been targeting expansion in Asia-Pacific travel retail. The company is a big player in top-end pre-packaged Iberico ham, Cinco Jotas. Idafe Fernándes Lorenzo, Area manager for global travel retail, said: “China is our largest market for Cinco Jotas outside Spain, and we are actively looking to place it in travel retail.” Even in the more accessible product category of high-end chocolate, premium brands like Lindt and Valrhona are adapting to impacts as Chinese travel retailers see lower sales and hold back on investments. Lindt & Sprüngli’s head of global travel retail, Peter Zehnder, said: “Many stores in the market need renovation to implement the latest concepts. There is a lack of clarity or vision on what these stores will offer their shoppers due to market uncertainty. But I still believe China is the future.” Tacking differently, Valrhona is leveraging its links to Michelin-starred pastry chefs. Zeyneb Larabi, head of global travel retail, said: “This is something we communicate in China because it’s a differentiator. And a value proposition, like a GWP (gift with purchase) can be a driver.” The brand is now implementing a gifting service in Chinese travel retail where ribbons for wrapping can be printed in-store with messages to personalize the product. Emmanuel Goulin, president of L’Oréal Travel Retail, took a broader view. He told Jing Daily in Cannes: “Their appetite for travel is still there. Like many, they are looking for retail experiences and it’s up to us to bring that to them, especially at the airport. We have to turn the airport into a place where they shop and not just test and buy online afterwards. This means engaging them more by leveraging tech, creating more travel retail exclusives, and having concrete offers.” TFWA 2025 signals a value-driven future for travel retail Though the Asia contingent was down at the TFWA show, the exhibition still has regional heft. Eternal Beauty Holdings, a leading player in China’s beauty and fragrance industry, chose the exhibition to release a white paper about the PRC’s fast-growing scent market. The event included a panel debate on how global brands needed to localize to get Chinese consumers on their side, and Dorothy Liu, the deputy general manager of the product merchant department at CDF, discussed regulatory compliance. In its quest for greater global influence as a newly listed company, Eternal Group clearly saw the TFWA travel retail show as a valuable platform to connect with major international brands looking at Chinese expansion. TFWA’s managing director, Franck Waechter, said: “This year’s event has been something of a paradox: clearly our industry faces some challenges, but it’s evident that people have come together and worked in partnership to address them. Relationships are crucial to our future prosperity, and the number of successful networking events taking place is a testament to the importance of relationships as a cornerstone of our business.”

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TFWA 2025: China forces a rethink of duty-free