From Listings to Legends: How Proximo Spirits Is Redefining the Theatre of Travel Retail
5 minutes read
Introduction by: Peter Marshall
If there’s one drinks company that’s making travel retail feel alive again, it’s Proximo Spirits. Forget the talk of listings and visibility. This is a business that’s treating the channel as a creative frontier, a place where brand theatre, cultural storytelling, and craftsmanship collide.
In today’s feature,TRunblocked.com’s Contributing Editor Colleen Morgan is in conversation with Roy Summers, Proximo Spirits’ Head of Global Travel Retail.
Roy Summers isn’t shy about where he thinks the travel retail industry, and particularly the drinks category, should be heading. For him, travel retail isn’t just a commercial channel – it’s an experience ecosystem, a global stage where premium spirits can inspire, educate, and connect.
Roy considers how Proximo is turning airports into arenas of experience, why travellers are the new brand ambassadors, and what it really takes to turn discovery into desire.
Colleen Morgan (CM): How does Proximo Spirits view the role of travel retail within its global business strategy today, and how has that changed in recent years?
Roy Summer (RS): Travel retail is central to our global growth strategy, particularly for premium spirits. Before 2020, we treated it largely as an extension of domestic business, focused on listings and visibility in key airports. Since then, we’ve reframed travel retail as a distinct, high-value channel with its own dynamics.
As travel recovered post-pandemic, we’ve shifted toward, premiumisation, innovation, and channel exclusive products. Travel retail now serves two purposes: it acts as a global showcase to our brands and gives consumers memorable experiences along with access to highly exclusive and collectible products. It’s where travellers become ambassadors, sharing their discoveries at home.
For our Irish whiskey and tequila portfolios, we increasingly take a travel-retail-first approach to innovation and storytelling with our 1800 Anejo Triple Cask launch at Cannes being the most recent example.
CM: With younger, experience-driven travellers, how is Proximo adapting its brand storytelling and retail activations?
RS: Travellers today want authenticity, education, and memorable moments rather than routine replenishment. They’re drawn to provenance, craft, and design.
For Bushmills, we bring the distillery’s 400-year heritage to life through stories of craft, cask finishing and place. Experientially, we focus on standout activations such as the floating-bottle display for Maestro Dobel Tequila at JFK as part of the brand’s sponsorship of the US Open. It’s these moments that create a sense of theatre.
Sampling and ambassador-led tastings help travellers connect with the brand, while our tequila portfolio engages younger consumers through modern, design-led launches like 1800 GuachiMonton, which fuses cultural heritage and contemporary luxury. Differentiation from domestic retail is key: travel exclusives, special finishes, and collectible packaging make the experience feel unique.
CM: Which brands or innovations have the strongest growth potential in travel retail over the next few years?
RS: Our biggest opportunities are in Irish whiskey and premium tequila, with regional opportunities for Kraken Spiced rum.
Bushmills is leading growth in Irish whiskey, a category still small in travel retail but expanding rapidly. We’ve launched travel-retail exclusive age statements – such as Bushmills 10, 15 and 21 Year Old – to strengthen collectability and gifting.
Tequila continues to surge globally, and our focus is on premium and luxury tiers through 1800 Tequila and Maestro Dobel. The 1800 Triple Cask Añejo – a travel retail exclusive debuting in 2026 – represents our most ambitious innovation yet. We also launched 1800 GuachiMonton in Europe earlier in 2025, highlighting craftsmanship and cultural storytelling.
In travel retail, we tailor products through unique ageing, packaging, and formats designed for gifting, alongside activations in major airports and partnerships with key operators for visibility and exclusivity.
CM: Where do you see the next major shifts in spirits demand within travel retail?
RS: Beyond tequila and Irish whiskey, we see the next growth waves centred on selective premiumisation, amplifying provenance, alongside engaging in store experiences.
We see significant momentum in ultra-premium tequila and sipping spirits, a continued shift in Irish whiskey from blends to single malts, and growing interest in craft and authenticity-driven liquids. Travel retail also supports collectability with shoppers seeking “only at the airport” editions and gifting solutions.
Emerging markets like Asia Pacific, the Middle East and India are driving expansion, and consumers increasingly expect discovery and storytelling, not just convenience.
The future of the channel is premium, exclusive, and experience led.
CM: So what gives Proximo a competitive edge?
RS: We approach travel retail as a standalone channel, building exclusive formats, immersive activations, and premium fixtures. We believe that gives us a competitive edge in a dynamic global travel retail spirits marketplace.
The focus is on experience and brand storytelling, brought to life through our premium products and strong collaborations with retailers. Our emphasis on craftsmanship and culture ensures relevance to the modern traveller. Coupled with agility in innovation, launching products like 1800 Triple Cask Añejo means we are positioning our brands as category leaders.
CM: How important are travel-retail exclusive or limited-edition products to your long-term approach?
RS: Travel retail exclusive launches are essential for us as they drive differentiation, collectability, and premium value.
For Bushmills, our exclusive 10, 15 and 21 Year Old bottlings exemplify this, while 1800 Tequila’s Triple Cask Añejo will launch exclusively through travel retail in 2026. These products feature unique finishes, formats, and packaging tailored for travellers.
Exclusives create a sense of discovery – for example, “I found this while travelling” – and strengthen brand equity. They’re not side projects but a core part of our global travel retail strategy.
CM: Tell us about your latest tequila launches, 1800 Triple Cask Añejo and 1800 GuachiMonton
RS: The 1800 Triple Cask Añejo and 1800 GuachiMonton take tequila into new territory, fulfilling 1800 founder Juan Francisco Beckmann’s vision of elevating tequila to the level of the world’s great whiskies and cognacs.
The 1800 Triple Cask Añejo is aged in French oak, American oak, and Cabernet Sauvignon casks, offering exceptional depth and elegance in a 1-litre, 40% ABV format. GuachiMonton takes inspiration from the Los Guachimontones pyramids of Jalisco and combines American and French oak ageing with a tequila orange liqueur cask finish.
Both feature premium activations in major airports, with tastings, ambassador programmes, and collectible packaging designed to highlight craftsmanship and cultural connection.
CM: What needs to change in travel retail for brands like Proximo to reach their full potential?
RS: Success depends on delivering exclusive experiences, premium theatre, and relevant local activations that make airport retail feel special.
Spirits must compete with luxury categories on emotion and experience as much as product quality.
CM: Looking five years ahead, what’s your vision for Proximo in travel retail?
RS: By 2030, travel retail will play an even greater role in premium brand growth. Our portfolio will tilt toward higher-end expressions, limited editions, and gifting-focused formats.
For Proximo, growth will come from Bushmills single malts and our premium tequila range, 1800 and Maestro Dobel. The channel itself will evolve into a showcase for global storytelling, with activations integrated across airports, pre-travel engagement, and loyalty ecosystems.
We’ll expand further while embedding sustainability and cultural heritage into product development.
CM Comment: Talking to Roy Summers, I got the sense that Proximo isn’t following trends – it’s quietly setting them. This is a company that understands the new traveller: curious, discerning, and hungry for a story worth sharing. The focus on premium, culture-led spirits and travel-retail-first innovation isn’t just smart, it’s a signal that Proximo sees the channel as more than transactional.
That mindset is both refreshing and necessary. If travel retail really is about discovery, then Proximo’s approach shows what happens when a spirits company treats that discovery with the respect, and imagination, it deserves.
