Cream liqueur sales in global travel retail rose 16% in 2025

Cream liqueurs posted one of the strongest gains in global travel retail last year, with sales rising 16% by value and 12% by volume in 2025 from 2024, according to market data cited by drinks industry publication Global Drinks Intel and attributed to IWSR.

The figures point to a category that expanded both in physical sales and in revenue in the travel retail channel, which includes airport duty-free stores and other outlets aimed at international travelers. The stronger rise in value than in volume suggests that product mix, pricing, or both helped lift revenue faster than the number of units sold, though the available data do not separate those factors. No total sales value, currency, or volume in liters was disclosed.

The data were published in an Oct. 22 analysis by Global Drinks Intel on flavored spirits and liqueurs in travel retail. The publication attributed the numbers to IWSR, the drinks market research firm formerly known as International Wine and Spirits Record. IWSR tracks alcoholic beverage markets in more than 160 countries and has offices in London, New York, and Singapore.

The report said liqueurs more broadly outperformed the wider global travel retail alcohol market in 2025, helped by flavor innovation, gifting demand, and efforts by brands to turn airport shopping into more of an experience. Cream liqueurs were highlighted as one of the clearest examples of that trend, with producers using limited editions, seasonal packaging, tasting programs, and travel-only products to catch the attention of travelers making quick purchase decisions.

Charlotte Reid, IWSR’s senior insights manager for global travel retail, said in comments quoted by the publication that liqueurs have proved “remarkably resilient” even as cost-of-living pressure remains visible in the channel. She said duty-free pricing and in-store engagement help position liqueurs as an affordable indulgence and a natural gift or impulse purchase during a trip.

That backdrop appears to have helped cream liqueurs, which are often bought for sharing or gifting and which sit at more accessible price points than many whiskies or agave-based spirits. The report said growth in the broader liqueur segment is concentrated mainly in standard-tier products, which gives the category reach among travelers who may be limiting spending but still want something that feels special or exclusive.

The strongest known brand example in the segment remains Baileys Irish Cream, owned by Diageo. Global Drinks Intel reported that Baileys sold 7.5 million nine-liter cases worldwide in 2025. In travel retail, the brand has focused on limited-edition flavor products and seasonal displays, including a Christmas-themed bottle and what a Diageo spokesperson described as “immersive treat-stop experiences” at Dublin Airport Duty Free. The company told the publication that gifting and exclusivity are major drivers of duty-free purchases, especially during the holiday season, and indicated that more activity is planned for Christmas 2026.

Other producers are also trying to use the travel retail environment to widen the appeal of cream liqueurs beyond the final months of the year. Na Cuana Group, maker of Merry’s Irish Cream Liqueur, launched a chocolate peanut butter variant in Dublin travel retail last year and is rolling out a Dubai Style Chocolate product this October. Co-founder Sally-Anne Cooney said limited editions can help extend the selling season for a category that is still heavily weighted toward the final quarter.

In Scotland, Hemisphere Brands launched its Scotch-based cream liqueur Magnum in travel retail earlier this year after repeated requests from buyers and travelers. Co-founder Steve Horne told the publication that sampling is central to the brand’s strategy and said the company expects the channel to account for about a quarter of Magnum sales within five years. He also said the cream liqueur segment still has room for innovation despite the dominance of large incumbent brands.

Marussia Beverages, which sells Mozart Chocolate Cream in travel retail, said gifting cues can have a measurable effect on sales. Senior brand manager Carina Planeta said simple changes such as adding ribbons to bottles helped strengthen the product’s appeal around occasions like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. The company also offers a one-liter bottle exclusive to the channel and uses small-format products near cash desks to encourage trial and impulse purchases.

The broader picture in travel retail is more mixed. While some liqueur categories are growing, operators and producers continue to face weaker foot traffic in some locations, fast-changing shopper preferences, and geopolitical disruption. Reid said geopolitical risk is the biggest near-term challenge for global travel retail, citing conflict in the Middle East, airspace closures, and flight disruption that have reduced hub traffic through major Gulf airports including Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Kuwait. That loss of connectivity has also affected Europe’s links with Asia.

Even so, some companies said disruption can create new pockets of demand. Ruben Canabal, global travel retail channel director at Zamora Co, said in comments published in the analysis that air traffic rerouting toward parts of the Mediterranean has benefited Spain by increasing tourist flows and supporting traffic and sales there. He described travel retail as resilient but said inflation and broader economic volatility have made it more important for brands to give shoppers a reason to stop, browse, and buy.

That thinking is shaping how liqueur brands are spending money in airports and other travel locations. Producers are investing in pop-ups, cocktail demonstrations, tastings, digital displays, and gift-with-purchase promotions. The goal is to move beyond passive shelf placement and turn the store visit into an experience. In the case of cream liqueurs, that often means highlighting flavor, indulgence, and giftability rather than rarity or prestige alone.

The report also pointed to the cruise business as an increasingly important part of travel retail. Reid described cruises as a “genuine growth engine,” saying the sub-channel is defying wider economic pressure with record passenger numbers. Cruise ships can be especially favorable for liqueurs because passengers have more time to browse and are often more willing to spend on discretionary purchases during a vacation. Several suppliers told the publication that onboard settings also lend themselves to tasting, themed dinners, and other promotional moments tied to consumption.

The travel retail gains for cream liqueurs come at a time when brands are trying to broaden usage occasions. Producers have increasingly linked liqueurs to cocktails, aperitif-style serves, and everyday indulgence instead of limiting them to winter or holiday consumption. That shift matters because the travel retail environment rewards products that can quickly communicate purpose, taste, and occasion to shoppers moving through a store with limited time.

The 2025 growth figures do not, on their own, show how much of the 16% value increase came from higher prices, premium product mix, exchange-rate effects, or inflation. They also do not provide a 2026 comparison. But the gap between value growth and volume growth indicates that cream liqueurs were not only selling more units in global travel retail; they were also generating more money per unit on average than a year earlier.

For brands and retailers, that makes cream liqueurs one of the clearer bright spots in a channel that remains exposed to external shocks. For travelers, it helps explain why airport and duty-free shelves increasingly feature limited editions, gift packaging, and tasting-led promotions built around cream-based drinks that were once treated mainly as seasonal purchases.