Travel retail has played a vital role in supporting growth in the beauty category. International airport hubs in the region have given brands exposure to nationalities such as the Indians and the Chinese who, in previous years, did not have easy domestic access to many labels. In numerous cases, they still don’t, which is why airport stores thrive in emerging markets: they have the brands consumers crave.Travel retail is, first and foremost, a strategic brand-building channel for beauty. Multinationals like L’Oréal, Estée Lauder Companies, and LVMH have been proactive in internationalizing their portfolios using airports. In the Middle East, state-owned Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been the mainstay for travel retail sales. Its core retailer, Dubai Duty Free (DDF), generated record revenue of $2.16 billion in 2023, of which perfumes generated 17% or $374 million. This makes perfume the biggest product category for the retailer, significantly ahead of liquor in second place.The Landscape Has EvolvedHowever, conditions for beauty have changed. Pre-pandemic, the cosmetics segment was the third-ranked category by DDF with sales of $233 million in 2019. Last year that had collapsed to $108 million. The main reason was that skincare-obsessed Chinese travelers were banned by their government from international travel during the Covid-19 crisis. The ban was lifted about 18 months ago, but the Chinese, who are partial to luxury lines, are still largely missing at many airport hubs, including Dubai.This year, DDF’s Chief Operating Officer, Ramesh Cidambi, is predicting total revenue of $2.