What Do PMI Q2 2026 Results Mean for Global Travel Retail?

Every earnings season produces a few headline numbers that attract most of the attention. PMI's second-quarter results are no exception. Revenue growth exceeded 10%, smoke-free products continued to gain share, and IQOS, VEEV and ZYN all contributed to a strong quarter.

For those working in Global Travel Retail, however, there is another story within the results.

Global Travel Retail recorded a 21.5% heated tobacco share in Q2 2026, up 3.1 percentage points versus last year. According to PMI, that was the largest increase among its top ten IQOS markets worldwide.

That performance deserves attention because Travel Retail operates under very different conditions from domestic markets. Airport retail is highly competitive, customer interactions are brief, and consumer demographics change constantly. Delivering that level of share growth in such an environment suggests that Travel Retail is contributing far more than incremental sales.

It is becoming an important source of consumer recruitment for smoke-free products.

Smoke-Free Growth Continues to Shape PMI's Business

PMI reported net revenues of US$11.2 billion in the second quarter, representing growth of 10.4% versus the same period last year. Smoke-free revenues increased by 11.7% and now account for 42% of total company revenues.

These numbers reinforce a trend that has been developing for several years. Growth is increasingly coming from smoke-free categories rather than traditional combustible products.

For Travel Retail, this is a significant development. The more PMI's business depends on smoke-free products, the more valuable consumer acquisition becomes. Sales remain important, but attracting and converting new users is becoming just as critical.

This is where Travel Retail has a unique advantage.

Travel Retail Reaches Consumers at the Right Moment

Most retail channels compete for consumers who have already formed purchasing habits. Airports are different.

Travellers are exposed to new brands, new products and new experiences. They are often more receptive to trying something unfamiliar than they would be in their everyday shopping environment. This creates an opportunity that few other channels can replicate.

A consumer may first encounter IQOS while travelling internationally and make the decision to switch weeks or months later in their home market. The sale itself may not occur in Travel Retail, but the introduction often does.

That type of influence is difficult to measure, yet it may be one of the channel's most important contributions.

A Broader Portfolio Creates More Opportunities

Another notable aspect of PMI's results is the continued growth of VEEV and ZYN alongside IQOS.

For Travel Retail, a broader portfolio means access to a wider range of consumers. Not every adult nicotine user is looking for the same product category. Some may prefer heated tobacco, others vaping products, while some may be interested in oral nicotine alternatives.

Having multiple smoke-free categories increases the likelihood that consumers will find a product that matches their preferences.

As the industry evolves, portfolio diversity could become a competitive advantage in its own right.

Why This Matters for the Industry

The strongest IQOS share growth among PMI's top markets is more than a quarterly performance indicator.

It highlights the changing role of Global Travel Retail. Increasingly, the channel is being recognised not only for what it sells but for the consumers it introduces to smoke-free alternatives.

For years, discussions about Travel Retail focused on passenger traffic, average transaction values and commercial performance. Those metrics will always matter. What is changing is the recognition that Travel Retail can also influence long-term consumer behaviour.

That makes the channel relevant far beyond the airport environment.

Final Thoughts

PMI's second-quarter results confirm that smoke-free products continue to drive the company's growth. They also provide further evidence that Global Travel Retail has become an important part of that growth story.

The channel's ability to deliver strong IQOS share gains in a highly competitive environment suggests that its role extends beyond retail execution. It is increasingly contributing to awareness, trial and adoption.

For industry professionals, that may be the most meaningful takeaway from the quarter. Travel Retail is no longer simply supporting the smoke-free transition. It is helping to accelerate it.

The Boss of the World's Largest Cigarette Company: Stop Smoking

Peter Nixon, Managing Director of PMI's UK affiliate Philip Morris Limited, appeared live on Good Morning Britain on 13 March 2019 to talk about the company’s ongoing transformation for a smoke-free future. On National No Smoking Day, he appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain to implore smokers to switch to new heated tobacco products because they are less harmful.

Speaking to co-hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid and medical correspondent Dr. Hilary Jones on the ITV breakfast show, Nixon admitted it would be a big challenge for the company and society at large. He said: “There are a billion smokers in the world. What we’re trying to do is provide alternatives – less harmful alternatives – to those smokers."

Here are the some important highlights from the points he mentioned during the breakfast show:

• People die because of cigarettes and we sell them. I take that very, very seriously. We are part of the problem but we want to be part of the solution. What we're trying to do is give alternatives to smokers.
• I’d love to stop selling cigarettes. But we would go out of business and that wouldn't mean people give up they would just switch to another brand.
• We have been investing in alternative products and I have put all my energy into converting people from the most harmful form of tobacco, which is cigarettes, to less harmful, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.
• “(When it comes to) heated tobacco – we give this product to smokers for one or two weeks for them to try if they’re not sure if it’s going to work or not. We give it for free for a week or two. Eighty per cent stop smoking at the end of that one or two weeks.
• If the smoker switches, it’s better for them, it’s better for society.

Here you can watch the most striking moment of the program: