Jordanian shisha brand Mazaya has pinpointed the upcoming TFWA World Exhibition as a key part of its strategy to build shisha sales in GTR. This year, the company will once again entertains guests onboard its luxury Princess Iluka Yacht in addition to its exhibition stand (H53/yellow village).

Mazaya brand manager Rawan Elayyan said: “Building travel retail distribution for our shisha tobacco outside the Middle East is a long-term strategy but we are most definitely finding that retailers in Europe, Asia and the US are becoming more and more interested and receptive to the concept.

“In Cannes, we will introduce new customers to our best selling flavours such as two apples, lemon mint, blueberry, mint, gum mint, grape mint and watermelon mint. We usually recommend five of these to start with in a new listing, building as the brand becomes better known within the region.”

Mazaya is continuing its extensive investment to bring Mazaya to the attention of the GTR industry. Once listed, support through promotions such as gwps and price-off is viewed as critical to its growth. Elayyan said: “This year, we’ve run promotions for customers in Amman, Dubai, and Sharjah airports and have scored high growth rates in all as a result. We have a new listing with Abu Dhabi that’s due to go in during August and will run a promotion in September.”

POTENTIAL FOR RETAILERS

Elayyan emphasises the potential of Mazaya for retailers worldwide.

“Of course, the Middle East/Gulf remains our core and key sales region and we continue to build our distribution across airports here, but we know that the potential for shisha in other regions is massive, particularly where the local market demand continues to rise rapidly such as in the UK, Europe, the US, South America and parts of Europe,” she said.

“Naturally, we are all aware of growing restrictions for all types of tobacco smoking but, nevertheless, according to a recent study by Wiseguy reports [the leading study of market research reports – ed]. the Hookah (shisha) tobacco market is expected to see a CAGR of 17.99% from $734,06m in 2017 to $2,757.94m by 2025.

“Driving this growth is the increased theme based café culture and the fact that it comes in different flavours, which attracts younger adult consumers.”

EUROPEAN DOMINANCE

According to the report, Europe is expected to dominate growth within the global shisha tobacco market followed by North America, with Latin America demand also
growing as the café culture grabs hold. Demand remains strong in the traditional markets such as the Middle East and parts of Asia Pacific.

“Based on these facts, it really makes sense for global travel retailers to get onboard the shisha market phenomena and dedicate some floor space to this growing trend,” added Elayyan. “It’s an opportunity not just for airport shops but for border shops, cruise ships and ferries as well.”

Mazaya will be present in Cannes with a growing team dedicated to the GTR market. “We are increasing our business and, in line with that, have expanded our dedicated sales and marketing team and are now dealing directly with operators rather than through agents or consultants.

“We are very keen to meet new potential customers in Cannes and look forward to introducing the world of Mazaya shisha to a new audience as well as our valued existing customers.”