2026
9
UK Travel Retail Market Report 2026
2026-06-25T08:01:03+00:00
REP63772F96_93BA_44AF_B72F_9693BA64AF81
2195
194352
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Report
en_GB
Travel retail in the UK is experiencing robust demand, with holiday-related spend ranked second only to clothing and accessories, and a striking 84% of Britons visiting a travel hub in…
UK
Retail
Travel
simple

UK Travel Retail Market Report 2026

Travel retail in the UK is experiencing robust demand, with holiday-related spend ranked second only to clothing and accessories, and a striking 84% of Britons visiting a travel hub in the past year.

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  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for travel retail – UK
    • Opportunities
    • Premium self-treat playbook
    • Frictionless convenience drives spend
    • Localism as a value multiplier
  2. THE MARKET

    • Inflation strains household budgets
    • Graph 1: CPI inflation rate, 2021-26
    • Spending on holidays remains a top priority
    • Graph 2: spending levels in 2025 compared to 2024 in holidays category, by annual household income, 2025
    • Airport footfall: a steady climb
    • Graph 3: total passenger numbers at reporting UK airports, 2021-25
    • Rail journeys on the rise
    • Graph 4: rail journeys in the UK, 2020/21-2024/25
    • Car sales hit three-year growth streak in 2025
    • Graph 5: new and used car sales, by volume, 2020-25
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Travel hubs usage and frequency
    • More Brits are using travel hubs than ever before
    • Graph 6: travel hub visitation, 2024/26
    • Bus and train stations remain top transit hubs
    • Graph 7: frequency of travel hub visitation, 2026
    • What consumers purchase in travel hubs
    • Food and drink significantly outpace secondary travel hub purchases
    • Food or drink items remain at the top
    • Graph 8: products purchased in travel hubs, 2026
    • Waitrose takes flight: supermarket giant lands at Heathrow Terminal 2
    • Travel hubs are still a hot spot for magazine and book sales
    • Penguin could expand book vending machines to target the commuter market
    • Purchase drivers
    • Beyond the gate: what drives purchases in travel hubs
    • On-the-go shopping: necessity, treats and souvenirs on the rise
    • Graph 9: reasons to make a purchase in a travel hub, 2024/26
    • Self-gifting is increasing in travel hubs
    • Graph 10: reasons to make a purchase in a travel hub – to treat myself, by age, 2026
    • The ‘Treat Yourself’ economy: how self-indulgence is reshaping travel retail
    • Value for money considerations
    • Quality food, fair prices and speed unlock hub value
    • How quality and personalisation are redefining retail value
    • Opportunity to improve food and drink offerings
    • Enhance the value proposition of shopping and dining at travel hubs
    • Vision for the future: strategies for UK travel hubs
    • Frictionless flyers: why convenience is king in modern travel retail
    • Convenience wins: how travel hub retailers can meet immediate shopper needs
    • Travel hub behaviours
    • Promotions and sampling can help convert time-rich, price-sensitive shoppers
    • While many shoppers have dwell time, high price perception remains a big barrier
    • Graph 11: consumer behaviours around dwell time and impulse shopping, 2026
    • Discount destinations: how travel retail can capture cost-conscious consumers
    • Dwell time monetisation
    • Immersive tasting festivals turn inevitable waiting into spend opportunities
    • Tapping into the impulse: how travel hubs can boost on-the-go sales
    • Graph 12: consumer behaviours around impulse shopping, by age, 2026
    • Lessons from Japan’s stations: what makes them unique?
  4. INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • WHSmith expands travel retail with new Roame beauty line and airport stores
    • Cultivating the localism trend, Roadchef’s farm shop turns motorway pit stop into foodie destination
    • Heathrow elevates passenger experience with experiential retail and local partnerships
    • Carfume’s vending machine rollout turns service stations into impulse-buy hotspots
    • Future-forward retail: Ipswich Station debuts Co-op’s first cashless store
    • Pop-up stores act as flexible, high-impact staging platforms
    • Co-op and Roadchef revamp UK motorway shops, starting with M6 toll
    • Heathrow Airport overhauls retail strategy, splits concessions between WHSmith and Lagardère
  5. APPENDIX

    • Report scope
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Other data source methodologies
    • Mintel Spark
    • Abbreviations and terms
    • Data sources
Download Report Summary

"As travel costs rise, the next phase of travel retail will favour operators who deliver convenience, value and speed."

Utku Tansel, Senior Retail Analyst

Utku Tansel, Senior Retail Analyst

UK Travel Retail Industry – Trends and Insights

  • The UK travel retail market is experiencing robust demand, with holiday-related spend ranked second only to clothing and accessories, and a striking 84% of Britons visiting a travel hub in the past year. Even more notably, 76% of travellers now report having enough time to shop, up 8 percentage points from 2024, signalling a significant window for operators to engage and convert.
  • This upside is offset by persistent macro headwinds. The latest figures show CPI is up 2.8% year-on-year, expected to rise further, driven in part by Middle East shipping disruptions. These pressures are squeezing operator margins while flight cancellations and higher cost bases create volatility and risk across airport and rail environments.
  • The biggest commercial opportunity lies in monetising longer dwell time through premium self-gifting and frictionless technology, maximising both impulse and planned spend. However, the sector’s biggest threat remains the industry-wide perception that ‘prices are too high’, with 78% of travellers deterred from spending. The report sets an agenda around value-driven innovation and targeted convenience, aiming to redefine perceptions and unlock the next phase of travel retail growth.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Key market drivers within the travel retail sector
  • Consumer traffic and visit frequency at major travel hubs
  • Consumer purchasing habits and key motivations at travel hubs
  • The changing roles of necessity, self-indulgence and gifting as primary purchase drivers
  • Overcoming price perception challenges and strategies for enhancing value propositions
  • Common retail behaviours observed in travel hub environments
  • The growing significance of frictionless technology, autonomous systems and local sourcing

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