Macao, often described as Asia’s answer to Las Vegas, now has a new duty free shopping attraction to tempt tourists who might otherwise be drawn to the island’s numerous casinos. Last month, DFS Group opened a new 300sq m wine and spirits boutique within the travel retailer’s T Galleria by DFS outlet in The Macau Shoppes at Four Seasons, a luxury shopping mall within the Four Seasons Hotel Macao.

The new store boasts more than 140 wines and spirits, including sought-after brands among the Chinese such as Hennessy cognac and Penfolds wine, while The Macallan, The Dalmore and Johnnie Walker whiskies all opened shop-in-shops for the first time in Macao. The outlet features four distinct zones: a House of Whiskey concept, a Hennessy boutique, a Les Caves de Champagne shop and a multi-category DFS Wines & Spirits store.

A major highlight of the 139sq m Hennessy boutique is the first exclusive Hennessy Rotating Bar and a customer experience Senses of Hennessy in which travellers can discover their ideal Hennessy cognac expression through a range of videos, aromas and sounds. Other features include a VIP Lounge offering a high-end range of Hennessy cognacs and personalised tastings, as well as a bespoke, personalised bottleengraving service.

The DFS Wines & Spirits store includes a digital sampling table, large LED screens and a Penfolds shop-in-shop offering travellers the chance to use the wine brand’s AI digital sommelier tool, which aims to guide customers to their ideal Penfolds wine based on their palate preferences and their budget.

Not to be outdone, the House of Whiskey concept offers travellers the opportunity of tasting whiskies directly from the barrel, while The Dalmore’s first shop-in-shop design boasts a nebuliser to impart aromas of ageing whisky casks.

The new DFS store in Macao is a further welcome sign of an upturn in fortunes for the Asia Pacific travel retail sector as travel flows begin to return to pre-Covid levels. The same upward trajectory is on display at Singapore Changi, one of the region’s most important international hubs, where Lotte Duty Free has recently opened new duplex stores in Terminals 2 and 3.

From a drinks perspective, one of the highlights of both stores is the installation of Makr Shakr Toni robot bartenders, which have already made their debut in the cruise sector. Located in the store’s upper deck Lifestyle Lounge, the machines can produce up to 80 drinks an hour. They feature dual robotic arms that make a wide range of cocktails and mocktails from 158 bottles of spirits and syrups placed on the ceiling of the store.

The Terminal 2 store also features a blended whisky experience curated by Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail, comprising retail design elements, such as a translucent LED screen and wave and learn pillar, which displays videos when bottles are lifted from the shelf by travellers. In contrast, the Terminal 3 outlet with its all-glass façade features the world’s first The House of Suntory shop-in-shop boutique, taking inspiration from Suntory’s embodiment of Japanese art and culture.

Centennial release

The space features a wide selection of premium spirits, including the limitededition centennial release of Hibiki 21-year-old and the region’s first Toki Whisky launch. Meanwhile, Penfolds and Hennessy both have opened impressive, interactive shop-in-shops in the new T3 outlet, while Pernod Ricard has opened a new space which showcases both its blends and malts.

As these examples show, the level of investment by drinks brands and duty free retailers into new stores and brand activations in the Asia/Pacific region this year is significant and a move whose success will ultimately likely depend on the return of high-spending Chinese travellers, something which didn’t happen on the scale expected last year.

As we outlined last month, the outlook for 2024 looks much brighter with the easing of visa restrictions for international Chinese travellers and expanded flight capacity set to fuel outbound travel. Yet cause for a degree of concern comes in the form of a major study conducted by travel retail research firm M1nd-set at the end of 2023, based on interviews with over 3,000 Chinese nationals planning to travel abroad this year.

The study found that outbound Chinese travel in 2024 will be skewed towards women, not traditionally the best liquor purchasers, with a ratio of 60:40. Korea and Japan topped the list of preferred destinations in Asia, while the US and France came top for long-haul destinations.

More worrying is that shopping was only the fourth most popular reason for choosing a particular destination, cited by less than a fifth of respondents. Encouragingly, 75% of those interviewed plan to do some duty free shopping on their travels, but wines and spirits were not among the top six most popular product categories – a list that was topped by perfumes, skincare and accessories, respectively.

Tempting the post-pandemic Chinese shopper 2.0 to part with their money for wines and spirits could prove challenging then, if M1nd-set’s findings are to be believed, suggesting a broader focus on a wider range of travelling shopper nationalities this year could pay dividends.