Luxury brands banking on growth of travel retail

[PARIS] Luxury brands are stepping up the battle for travelling shoppers with more outlets at airports and on cruise ships, tapping into one of the fastest growing sections of the market that looks set to keep booming thanks to soaring numbers of Asian tourists.

Revenues from travel retail, which also includes sales on airplanes, rose 9.4 per cent in 2012 to US$55.8 billion, according to a market study by Generation Research.

It should reach US$60 billion this year and nearly double in size by 2020, the study forecast. "This channel is becoming very important," Bruno Pavlovsky, chairman of Chanel's fashion business, said. "Customers are spending time i…