At this week’s Airline Retail Conference, TRBusiness spoke to a variety of the exhibitors about the channel’s notoriety when it comes to gaining entry, and then maintain a presence.

Here are some of their comments.

“Brands need to do a background check on what this business is all about. If you take a domestic business model and try and put it into travel retail it is never going to work,” says Jacob Olsen at Danish jewellery house, Dyrberg/Kern, adding: “It is hard for new brand to understand this business and the conditions they face when trying to get in.

See the full-length video below.

 

‘BE SPECIAL & UNIQUE’

Anna Berezhnaya, from German inflight specialist Hanse Distribution, comments: “It does not matter about the category… the most important thing is that the product has to be innovative, special, unique.”

“A lot of the new brands aren’t really aware of the ways of getting into the inflight magazines,” says David Sternlight from Cabeau which successfully supplies travel comfort products to the channel.”

“It needs to be easier to get in touch with the airlines,” points out Carlos González-Gordon from wine producer González-Byass, a gripe that many brands have in the channel.

“Very often the industry is depending on tried and tested brands that everybody knows… but inflight can try and find the new niche brands, the up and comers and become a bit of a destination for them,” says Stuart Mactavish at UK beauty brand Seascape.