Duty Free
ut borders
Developments
follow each other in
rapid succession
Seagoing shipping was always an
important area for Heineken
Duty Free. As long ago as 1990 it
was noted, however, that sales in this
segment had declined. That down
ward tendency is still continuing. Ben
Winters: "That decline has three caus
es: fewer and fewer ships are sailing
the oceans, the crews on those ships
are getting ever smaller and then
there are the restrictions imposed by
the shipping operators on crews as
regards alcohol consumption."
Similarly, sales of duty free prod
ucts in the 'military market' have also
been under pressure for several
years. The détente in world politics
has meant that fewer and fewer mili
tary personnel - especially Americans
- are stationed abroad. Particularly in
Europe there was a mass withdrawal
of the American, British and Canadian
"Duty Free is always very closely in touch with the
trade. That's how we can quickly see what is hap
pening in the market". Ben Winters has heen the
head of the Duty Free department within
Heineken Export since December 1993. The
breweries with duty free activities are faced with a
difficult market. Ben Winters admits that a num
ber of segments are under pressure, but he is not
prepared to join the ranks of the pessimists.
military, which caused a sharp fall in
sales of duty free articles.
Positive
Do things really look so bad for
Duty Free and is there nothing posi
tive to report? Ben Winters thinks
there is. "One market which has
become very interesting for us is the
cruise ships market. This form of
holiday is becoming ever more popu
lar, above all in the Caribbean."
Yet interest for a cruise vacation is
also growing in other parts of the
world. The shipping companies can
hardly keep up with demand in their
investment programmes for building
new vessels. "For Heineken the cruise
ships have grown to become an
important market within only a few
years. We target the passengers for
the short cruises in particular."
Airl i nes
Heineken Duty Free is not, how
ever, directing all its efforts at cruise
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
