NEWS ALERT: There’s just one week left to enter the duty-free and travel retail (DF&TR) industry’s only consumer-voted awards for less with the early bird discount only available until 24 March.

Currently entries are priced at £295 + VAT (20%), which represents a saving of nearly 20% off the cost of standard entries. From 25 March, entries will be priced at 365 + VAT (20%).

We recommend you move swiftly to secure the discount while you can, safe in the knowledge that submissions can be edited right up until the closing date of 1 May, if needed.

It’s an exciting time to take part, with the Travel Retail Awards now entering its ninth year complete with a refreshed category lineup.

A total of 10 new accolades have been introduced in order to reflect the evolving travel retail business landscape.

This has been informed by feedback from previous years’ entrants, attendees and the wider DF&TR industry. Stakeholders also had the chance to vote for the categories they would like to see included as part of TRBusiness’ recent reader survey.

New categories to discover include Best Breakthrough Brand, Best Food Product, Best Niche Fragrance, Best Technology Product, Best Travel Exclusive Product, Best Hybrid Store, Best Pop-up Store, Best Shop-in-Shop, Best Travel Retail Partnership and Best Retail Omnichannel Campaign, alongside long-standing favourites.

“When entering the awards, be sure to use language that is easy to digest for consumers – avoid acronyms and jargon that may be hard to understand,” advises TRBusiness Editorial Director Faye Bartle.

“Be focused, clear and concise and provide as much information as possible to help the consumers assess your entry. It’s important to try to connect with what matters to consumers, so put yourself in their mindset when writing your submission. We are looking forward to receiving your entries. Good luck!”

Please see below for the full list of categories for the 2026 Global Travel Retail Awards…
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PRODUCT AWARDS
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Breakthrough Brand 

This category celebrates a newly launched or emerging brand that has secured its first listing in travel retail within the past 24 months. It recognises brands that have demonstrated strong early momentum and clear potential to make a lasting impact in the global duty free and travel retail industry.
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Best Chocolate/Sugar Confectionery Product 

This category recognises outstanding chocolate and/or sugar confectionery products in travel retail, in the eyes of travelling shoppers. It celebrates excellence in taste, quality, packaging, shopper appeal and overall execution, spotlighting products that encourage strong engagement and inspire conversion among travelling consumers.
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Best Fashion and Accessories Product (including luggage & leathergoods, sunglasses & eyewear) 

This category recognises outstanding fashion and fashion accessories products in the channel, including luggage, leathergoods, sunglasses and eyewear, celebrating exceptional design, craftsmanship, innovation and shopper appeal.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Food Product (including food, snacks, biscuits and gourmet gifting) 

This category is dedicated to food products outside of traditional confectionery, while also welcoming luxury gourmet gifting items designed for premium or special-occasion appeal. It marks excellence in taste, ingredients, packaging, innovation and desirability, highlighting products that offer travellers elevated or indulgent food experiences.
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Best Watches/Jewellery Product 

This category recognises the watches and jewellery products in the travel retail channel that resonate most strongly with travelling shoppers, noting exceptional design, craftsmanship, innovation, choice and quality of materials. 
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Best Fragrance Product 

This category honours exceptional fragrances, recognising standout olfactory creation, packaging design, brand storytelling and overall consumer appeal. From the quality of raw materials to the look of the packaging, this accolade celebrates scents that leave a lasting impact on both the wearer and the industry.
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Best Low- & No-Alcohol Product 

Dedicated to the most impressive low- or no-alcohol product in travel retail, this accolade highlights an evolving category dynamic. It honours innovation, flavour, brand positioning and consumer appeal and is a platform for showcasing products that offer travellers sophisticated, mindful drinking alternatives without compromising on taste or experience.
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Best Make-up Product  

This accolade celebrates make-up products that excel in every dimension: an innovative, high-performance formulation; a versatile and inclusive shade range; an effortless and elevated application experience; and packaging designed for both beauty and travel practicality. 
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Niche Fragrance 

This category honours exceptional niche fragrances in the travel retail channel. It is designed to recognise unique olfactory artistry, high-quality ingredients, compelling brand storytelling and standout consumer appeal, celebrating fragrances that embody creativity and exclusivity for discerning travelling shoppers.
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Best Nicotine (non-combustible) Product 

This category recognises innovative smoke-free products such as heated tobacco, e-vapour and oral smokeless products, which do not combust. The category is open to entries that showcase exceptional design, quality and experience, backed by responsible positioning in the travel retail environment.
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Best Skincare, Haircare, Bath & Body Product 

Shining a light on exceptional products in the skincare, haircare, bath or body segment, this category delves into formulation, efficacy, sensory experience, packaging design and overall consumer appeal, highlighting products that elevate travellers’ self-care routines and perform strongly in the DF&TR environment.
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Best Spirits Product 

This category recognises the most outstanding spirits product in the travel retail channel. It celebrates excellence in craftsmanship, flavour profile, innovation, packaging design and overall consumer appeal, highlighting products that deliver a memorable experience for travellers and are strong performers on the shop floor.
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Best Sustainable Product 

This category recognises products that best demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability within the travel retail channel. From responsible material choices to waste reduction, responsible sourcing and supply chain management and more, these products help set a benchmark for positive change in the industry.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Technology Product (including electronics, gadgets and beauty tech) 

This category aims to recognise the most innovative and impactful technology product in the travel retail channel, spanning electronics, smart gadgets and beauty tech. It celebrates cutting-edge functionality, design quality, user experience and traveller appeal, highlighting products that enhance convenience, entertainment or wellbeing for consumers on the move.
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Best Travel Accessory 

From neck pillows to RFID-blocking wallets/passport holders, luggage tags and space-saving solutions, this category recognises travel accessories that ease the lives of travellers. It recognises smart, practical and well-designed products that enhance the convenience, comfort or efficiency of the travel experience, demonstrating strong appeal and relevance for travellers on the go.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Travel Exclusive Product 

This category celebrates products created especially for the travel retail channel. It recognises unique formulations, designs and formats that are exclusive to travellers, highlighting products that deliver strong differentiation, desirability and commercial impact through their travel-exclusive appeal.
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Best Wines Product  

This category recognises the most outstanding wine products in the travel retail channel. It celebrates excellence in winemaking, flavour profile, provenance, packaging, and overall consumer appeal, highlighting wines that resonate strongly with travelling shoppers and demonstrate strong commercial performance.
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Best Overall Product

This award goes to the highest scoring product overall and will be announced at the ceremony.
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TRBusiness Editorial Director Faye Bartle co-hosted the 2025 Global Travel Retail Awards in Cannes.

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INITIATIVES AWARDS
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Best Sustainable Initiative

This accolade recognises the most impactful sustainability-focused initiative in the travel retail channel – in the eyes of shoppers. It celebrates programmes, actions or strategies that make a meaningful difference to people and the planet.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Hybrid Store 

This category recognises standout hybrid stores – concepts that blend retail with food and beverage (F&B) to create a rich, engaging shopper experience. It recognises stores that push the boundaries of traditional formats by integrating shopping, dining, and experiential elements in a way that enhances dwell time and drives discovery.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Pop-up Store 

Working on an outstanding pop-up? We want to know about it. This category honours pop-ups that boast a creative design, engaging storytelling and memorable experiences for travellers. It is designed to highlight the best temporary retail concepts that captivate travellers and elevate brand presence in the travel retail environment.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Shop-in-Shop 

This accolade is devoted to shop-in-shop concepts that are a cut above in delivering exceptional retail experiences in travel retail. It recognises impactful spaces that lead the way in purposeful design, smart product curation, and compelling storytelling to create destinations that engage travellers and elevate the shopping journey.
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Travel Retail Partnership 

The most successful and collaborative partnerships in the channel will be honoured by this new accolade. It marks alliances between brands, retailers, airports, cruise lines and other stakeholders that deliver exceptional results through shared vision, creativity, operational excellence and measurable commercial or consumer impact. 
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NEW FOR 2026! Best Retail Omnichannel Campaign 

This category recognises the most effective omnichannel campaign targeted towards travelling shoppers. It will have achieved seamless integration across digital and physical touchpoints, from online engagement and pre-trip inspiration to in-store activation and post-purchase connection. The award highlights campaigns that deliver cohesive storytelling, strong traveller engagement and measurable commercial impact through a unified, multi-platform approach.
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Best Cruise Retail Initiative 

Whether it’s an entire retail revamp or a stand-alone shop or initiative, this award celebrates creativity, experiential execution, product curation, passenger engagement and commercial impact at sea to recognise the most outstanding retail initiatives delivered in the cruise sector – in the eyes of travelling shoppers.
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Best Airport Retail Initiative 

This category spotlights the most impactful retail initiatives implemented in an airport environment. It rewards initiatives that meaningfully improve how passengers explore, navigate and enjoy retail spaces, spotlighting projects that introduce fresh thinking, set the bar for operational excellence and create clear value for both travellers and the airport.
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The Travel Retail Awards are the only consumer-voted awards for the DF&TR industry.

Why the Travel Retail Awards stand out

Now entering its ninth year, the Global Travel Retail Awards is brought to life by TRBusiness and m1nd-set as a platform to recognise the products and initiatives that truly resonate with travelling consumers.

This is delivered through a robust, independently judged awards programme that leverages the unique qualified database of m1nd-set, enhanced by the expertise of a panel of influencer judges who are able to experience the products first-hand.

Each year, TRBusiness takes the chance to ask the influencer judges for their honest take on the travel retail environment, including what inspires them to shop. Hit play on the video below to find out what a selection of our 2025 judges had to say…..

We invite you to follow in the footsteps of leading brands, retailers and airports around the world such as Lindt, Coty, Freixenet, Clarins, Pernod Ricard GTR, Duty Free Americas, Lagardère Travel Retail, Starboard and Qatar Duty Free who have earned valuable recognition from travel retail’s ultimate decision-makers – travelling shoppers – by seizing your chance to shine in the Travel Retail Awards.

All those recognised earn the right to utilise the ‘Voted by Shoppers’ seal of approval in their marketing and communications to stand out on the shelves. Plus, it can also be a tool for driving conversation with  m1nd-set research showing 30% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product displaying the Voted by Shoppers Winner logo.

Book your tickets to the ceremony

The dazzling Global Travel Retail Awards 2026 ceremony is taking place on Tuesday 29 September at Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, once again to coincide with the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference – and tickets are available now!

Early bird pricing is active until 1 July, 2026. TRBusiness and m1nd-set are looking forward to welcoming you to a memorable evening of networking and jubilant celebrations. Good luck to all the entrants!

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