The Travel Retail business is going to expand, and we are preparing for it

GLOBE TRAVEL RETAIL, European partner in Travel Retail

Jeremy Dahan, president of GLOBE Group, a specialist in shopper marketing and sales, aims to become a global European partner in travel retail through a majority stake in the leading UK company Synergy Promotions.

The COVID crisis has somewhat reshuffled the deck in travel retail. What are the new challenges for this channel?
Jeremy Dahan: In the short term, the sector must rebuild its talent pool after the partial airport closures over a long period, and it must also find a path back to growth without relying on the heavy-spending Chinese and Russian travelers. This is a significant challenge but still presents great opportunities, especially considering that the penetration rate of travel retail is around 50%.

And in the longer term?
Jeremy Dahan: Environmental issues are not escaping travel retail, and they are becoming more of a customer expectation given the polluting nature of air travel. Carbon footprint is a central concern, and all key stakeholders are ready to take action to provide solutions. GLOBE Group is, in fact, Ecovadis certified. Retail experience is also a hot topic. Omnichannel strategies, customer journeys, theatrics, and storytelling have become essential to attract travelers and close sales. The market is ahead of us. The travel retail business will expand, and we are preparing for it.

In what context did you initiate talks to acquire Synergy Promotions?
Jeremy Dahan: Since 1997, with our subsidiary GLOBE Travel Retail (formerly Partema), we have supported our clients — major international players in both mass distribution and select distribution — in Duty-Free shops, which are the world’s largest commercial centers for high-income consumers. Already operating in France and Switzerland, it was natural for us to move towards the United Kingdom, a major European hub for travel retail. Talks between GLOBE Group and Synergy Promotions began during COVID when industry consolidation seemed inevitable to meet market challenges.

What are these challenges?
Jeremy Dahan: Travel retail is dominated by large players, including airports, manufacturers, and retailers. A small ecosystem of subcontractors, mainly SMEs, has developed around this but lacks the capacity to respond globally, focusing instead on localized solutions. Their limited capacity and the crisis have highlighted their vulnerability. Today, travel retail demands a multi-discipline, multi-geographic response that they cannot provide. Our goal is to position ourselves as a sustainable and European partner.

How will you achieve this?
Jeremy Dahan: Our offering is based on four strong pillars: Data, Operational Excellence, Geographical Coverage, and Inclusive Recruitment. We can help brands and retailers support their shoppers throughout their entire journey, both to and within the airport. Since we have internalized all strategic steps from design to production, we can deliver the same quality and performance in Zurich, Paris, and soon London. Finally, we offer strategic planning based on business intelligence. The coordinated deployment of all these services enables us to become a strong player, delivering more ROI-driven activations for brands. Our majority stake in Synergy Promotions — a company with over twenty years of presence in the UK — opens the doors to all British airports, including Ireland, among which are five of the largest hubs in Europe.