What: Luxury resale is making its way into travel retail, with airports and cruise lines embracing the trend to offer pre-owned luxury goods.

Why it is important: The integration of pre-owned luxury goods into travel retail caters to the sustainability-conscious, price-conscious, and collectors market segments, while also offering a unique value proposition of exclusivity and tax-free prices for travellers.

The global market for pre-owned luxury goods grew by 28% in 2022 to EUR 43 billion, driven by sustainability concerns and affordability for aspirational consumers. In the travel retail sector, sales of luxury goods increased by 40% in 2022, but still remain below pre-pandemic levels.

ARI, a travel retailer, plans to open a pre-owned luxury boutique at Lisbon Airport and expand the concept to other airports worldwide. Harding+, a cruise liner retail operator, is also expanding its preloved offer and introducing a vintage lounge concept called 'Reloved'.

Leather goods, watches, and jewellery are the best performers in pre-owned luxury on cruise ships, providing travellers with exclusivity, tax-free prices, and access to rare and limited-edition pieces. Curation plays a vital role in the limited space of travel retail, with vendors combining passenger data and demographic information to create unique assortments for different ships and destinations.

Luxury resale hits airports and cruise lines. Can it scale?