Airport Experience® News - Conference Issue 2025

Indicate signi cantly higher / lower vs the pre Covid-19 2017-2020

Source: m1nd-set

DATA CHECK

Purpose of Purchase (Duty Free Purchasing Trends)

risen steadily to 49% by 2024. Male buyers, on the other hand, who peaked at 64% in 2021, now represent 51% of shoppers globally, according to the research. Leisure Traveler Rise With business travel still struggling to find footing post-pandemic, and with the rise of bleisure (business-leisure combination) travel, leisure travelers continue to dominate the duty free landscape among global buyers, increasing from 68% pre-Covid to 73% in 2024. Business travelers, in contrast, have seen their share decline from 32% to 27% over the same period. Those leisure travelers may be more inclined to indulge themselves rather than buy for others, the m1nd-set research shows. Gift purchasing has declined sharply since the pandemic, the data shows, with only 25% of buyers purchasing for gifting reasons in 2024 compared to 40% pre-Covid. Meanwhile, purchases for self-consumption have risen from 46% to 52%, and sharing purposes increased from 9% to 16%.

52%

52%

50%

50%

46%

Own Consumption

40%

Gifting

25%

28%

28%

26%

Sharing

16%

16%

15%

20%

9%

7%

On Request

6%

6%

5%

4%

2017-Q1 2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Indicate signi cantly higher / lower vs the pre Covid-19 2017-2020

Source: m1nd-set

years. Younger travelers now represent a much larger share, with their participation doubling from 5% pre-Covid to 10% in 2023 and 2024. Millennials have shown the most significant growth, rising from 19% pre-Covid to 29% in both 2023 and 2024. Conversely, older travelers have seen a sharp decline, with senior buyers dropping from 28% pre- Covid to just 13% by 2024.

Middle-aged shoppers have remained relatively stable, settling at 48% of global purchasers of duty free in airports. As a result, the average shopper age has decreased from 46 pre-Covid to 41 in 2024. The gender composition of duty free shoppers has also shifted, m1nd-set reveals. Female buyers initially dropped from 42% pre-Covid to 36% in 2021 but have since

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