Alpha Asia reports that its fragrance sales currently represent 86% of its perfume and cosmetics mix and this is continuing to grow while skin care stands at 7% to 8% of the sales mix.

The travel retailer says that the category is growing in strength in the Indian sub-continent where it primarily operates at Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka; at Delhi and Cochin airports in India; and in the Maldives and Nepal.

Alpha said: ?In the sub continent there has been an escalating demand for male skin care ranges, especially those products that enhance whitening of the skin.

?After a decade of operating travel retail in the region, we have discovered that our Maldivian customers prefer floral fragrances, the Indians prefer spicy floral fragrances and that there is a large demand for more prestigious and popular brands.

?At our arrivals shop at the Colombo Airport, the majority of passenger purchases are gift orientated, hence, fragrance gift packs are most popular amongst arriving passengers.?

The company says that it strives to provide an attractive range of perfume and cosmetics, whilst maintaining its competitive price policy and this summer it plans to launch Bvlgari fragrance lines in both Colombo and New Delhi airports.

?We are continuing with our tradition of offering gift with purchases (GWP?s) to our valued customers. At New Delhi we will offer a wide range of international brands of perfumes and cosmetics – currently these are not available in Colombo due to space restrictions – such as Burberry, St DuPont, Lanvin diesel and Viktor and Rolf.

?At New Delhi, in the second phase of our operations, we intend to offer special cosmetic demonstration areas/rooms, initially starting with brands like Christian Dior, Est?e Lauder and Clinique. This year we will also feature state of the art perfume and cosmetics display units with plasma screens. Christian Dior and P&G Prestige are the first to grant us with these modern display units.?

Alpha says it is also hoping to expand its departure shop operation at Colombo. It says that if these plans are approved then it will extend services to its valued customers with an more extensive product range and new space for cosmetics demonstrations.

The company said: ?We have increased the number of Beauty Advisors at the Colombo Airport; this is mainly because we feel that we need to demonstrate our expertise in products if we are to maximize sales. Our Beauty Advisors receive training at least twice a year from our valued suppliers and they often travel abroad to receive their product training.

?Countries such as France, UAE, Singapore and Cyprus are frequent training destinations of our Beauty Advisors. Currently at Colombo we have 18 specialist Beauty Advisors sponsored by various perfume houses and 10 generic Advisors. We hope to employ a similar number of Beauty Advisors at the New Delhi Airport.?