Duty free shops sell ethnic India theme

New Delhi: Theme India is the new mantra of duty free shops at Indian Airports. Items such as Indian beedi, tea and country liquour is the new fad among those splurging at duty free shops. So, out goes Blue label, Louis Vuitton and in comes desi brands such as Khwaja beedi, and Old Monk (Rum).
Alpha Future, a JV between UK-based Alpha Airport Group and Kishore Biyani promoted Future Group of India, has on display ethnic brands such as Sancha Tea, at its Delhi Airport outlet.
A Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) official, reveals that the last six months has seen the sales of the desi items jump by around 10%. "Tea has been by far the fastest selling Indian item. Especially, packed elegantly in ethnic designs & motifs, it is a hot pick among the tourists, particularly Chinese and Japanese," the official said.
Seeing the huge demand, duty free shops are now planning to add more destination products such as incense sticks, packed sweets, local whiskey and vodka brands to their current portfolio.
As per rough estimates, the duty free industry in India is pegged at around Rs 300 crore. According to an ACNielsen study, shopping at duty free shops is more impulse driven than planned and hence they have a high conversion ratio of visitor to shopper.
16/09/07 Aman Dhall & Dheeraj Tiwari/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Sep 2007, New Sep 2007