Travel Retail's Next Competitive Advantage: Why Experiential Retail Is Accelerating Smoke-Free Adoption

Travel Retail Is No Longer Just About Selling Products

For decades, success in travel retail was largely driven by passenger traffic, retail footprint, and product visibility. While those factors remain important, recent developments across the Global Travel Retail (GTR) industry suggest a more fundamental shift is underway.

The industry's fastest-growing opportunities are increasingly being created through consumer engagement, education, and experience.

Recent reporting from GTR Magazine, DFNI, TRBusiness, and The Moodie Davitt Report highlights two interconnected trends:

• Continued momentum of PMI's smoke-free portfolio, particularly IQOS within travel retail environments.
• Growing investment by airports and retailers in experiential retail formats, immersive activations, and consumer-centric engagement models.

Viewed independently, these are noteworthy developments.

Viewed together, they reveal something much more important: experiential retail may be becoming one of the strongest catalysts for smoke-free adoption globally.

Why Smoke-Free Products Benefit From Experience-Led Retail

Unlike many traditional consumer goods categories, smoke-free products often require understanding before adoption.

Adult consumers may seek information about product features, usage, alternatives, and the overall experience before making a decision. This means education and engagement can play a particularly important role in the consumer journey.

This is precisely where travel retail is evolving.

Across airports worldwide, retailers are increasingly moving beyond traditional transactional environments. Beauty brands offer personalized consultations. Luxury brands create immersive experiences. Spirits companies invest heavily in storytelling and sampling-led engagement.

The common theme is simple: Consumers are spending less time looking at shelves and more time interacting with brands.

For smoke-free products, this evolution creates a natural advantage.

An airport is often one of the few places where brands can engage adult consumers in a premium environment, supported by trained staff, experiential displays, and sufficient time for meaningful interaction.

As travel retail becomes more experience-driven, the value of consumer education grows alongside it.

The IQOS Opportunity Beyond Traditional Visibility

Recent industry reports highlighting travel-retail-exclusive IQOS launches demonstrate how the category continues to leverage airports as innovation showcases.

Historically, exclusive products were primarily associated with luxury, beauty, and spirits categories. Today, they are increasingly relevant for smoke-free products as well.

However, the real opportunity extends beyond limited editions or exclusive devices.

The bigger question is: How can every consumer interaction become a learning opportunity?

As airports continue investing in experiential formats, brands capable of combining innovation with education are likely to gain an increasingly important competitive advantage.

This is particularly relevant as smoke-free products continue their global expansion journey.

In many cases, conversion may depend less on visibility and more on understanding.

Why This Matters For The Future Of Global Travel Retail

The broader travel retail sector is effectively redesigning itself around experience.

That evolution may prove especially significant for categories that require higher levels of consumer engagement and education.

The industry's investment in immersive retail experiences, combined with PMI's continued smoke-free momentum, signals an interesting convergence:

• Retailers need meaningful consumer engagement.
• Adult consumers increasingly seek informed choices.
• Smoke-free products benefit from education-led interactions.

When these three elements come together, travel retail becomes more than a sales channel.

It becomes an environment capable of accelerating product adoption, strengthening brand perception, and creating long-term consumer relationships.

Closing Thought

The most valuable asset in airport retail may no longer be shelf space.

It may be attention.

As experiential retail continues to reshape airports worldwide, brands that successfully transform consumer attention into education and understanding will likely be best positioned for future growth.

For PMI and the broader smoke-free category, that makes travel retail far more than a distribution channel.

It makes it one of the most influential consumer engagement platforms in the world.

 

Sources

• GTR Magazine – Airport retail trends, retail expansion and experiential activations
• DFNI – PMI smoke-free portfolio performance and IQOS travel retail developments
• TRBusiness – Global travel retail consumer trends and market analysis
• The Moodie Davitt Report – PMI smoke-free growth and travel retail performance

By Volkan Yorulmaz

Views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Philip Morris International (PMI) or its affiliates. 

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.

PMI’s 2022-Q3 Results: Strong Growth Fundamentals & Exciting Future

Philip Morris International (PMI) Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call took place on 20 October 2022. As a PMI employee, I also joined the conference to take some notes and read the press release containing detailed information on PMI’s 2022 third quarter results.

Firstly, the day that earnings conference is organized marks a historic day in PMI’s journey towards a smoke-free future, with the certainty that the company will have full control of IQOS, the world’s leading smoke-free product in the United States, the world’s largest smoke-free market from April 30, 2024.

Strong Underlying Momentum towards Smoke Free Future: PMI's 2022-Q2 Results

Philip Morris International stock rose 4.2% on Thursday, July 21 just after Q2 2022 results were released. In this content, I will review PMI’s 2022 second quarter results and I will share some key financials and more about their drivers to make the numbers more meaningful. Since I am an employee of PMI, I prefer to use “we”, “our” and “Emmanuel” (for our CFO Babeau) in some parts of the below content.

The data used in this content are all publicly available and it does not include any investing recommendation.

Q2 2022 results reflect the exceptional one-off events that have impacted PM this year, notably the loss of earnings from Russia and Ukraine and the sharp appreciation of the U.S. dollar. Excluding these, the underlying drivers behind PM’s businesses have remained strong, and full-year 2022 outlook has been raised on an organic basis.

Before the highlights, we need to remember the announcement that PMI intends to exit the Russian market in an orderly manner, as the complexities of continuing to operate in Russia increase, such as supply chain challenges and financial and banking sector restrictions.

PMI demonstrated strong underlying momentum in the second quarter of 2022 with another quarter of positive volume supporting better-than-expected growth. Most impressive was the continued excellent IQOS performance and strong Q2 user growth of more than 1.1 million, demonstrating further acceleration compared to Q1 as device limitation and COVID restrictions continue to ease. This reflects strong momentum in the EU region, Japan and developing markets.

The proposed addition of Swedish Match would further boost our future financial profile. This is a value-creating offer for both sets of shareholders with a compelling strategic and cultural fit, providing an additional opportunity to accelerate our smoke-free future.

During Q2 2022, PMI had good volume growth and good currency-neutral revenue growth. However, EBIT growth was weaker due to margin contraction and, including currency, both revenues and EBIT fell year-on-year.

Volume growth would have been stronger except for supply chain constraints, and the margin contraction was also due to one-off factors.

Let’s dive deep into the stories behind these numbers and ratios.

In 2021, Ukraine accounted for around 2% of PMI’s total cigarette and heated tobacco unit shipment volume and under 2% of PMI’s total net revenues.

In 2021, Russia made up almost 10% of total shipment volumes and around 6% of PMI net revenues.

Despite the impact of war in Ukraine, PMI increased its shipment volume by 1.1% compared to previous year.

Net revenues increased by 5.3% and this has mainly two drivers. The first one is the continued strong growth of IQOS and the second one is ongoing recovery of the combustible business. Here it is critical to keep in mind that the recovery is realized against a pandemic-affected comparison.

When we look at the revenue per unit, we see an increase by 4.1% in total. This increase is especially important because this year there is a delayed timing of shipments, as the company manages the cancellation of planned heated tobacco unit manufacturing in Russia and company faces disruptions in global supply chains generally.

Our operating income margin declined, and this reflected:

Firstly, the investment to further expand and match the speed of PMI's smoke-free portfolio growth, including the initial higher cost of ILUMA devices and heated tobacco units, and the replenishment of distribution channels as device constraints ease to support re-accelerating IQOS user growth;

Secondly, the impact of supply chain extra costs, notably due to the war in Ukraine; and

Thirdly, cost inflation driven by the global pandemic recovery and by the war in Ukraine, notably for certain direct materials, wages, energy and transportation costs.

Lastly, the decline also reflected a challenging prior year comparison, which included productivity savings.

When we look at the assumptions for the next two quarters;

In the third quarter, it is expected that IQOS and combustible volume trends will lead the top line growth.

There are some temporary headwinds which not only impacted PMI but also the whole World and the expectation is that these will ease in third quarter.

And in the last quarter of this year, HTU capacity problems will be better, so shipment volumes for HTU will increase as well.

One of the key updates in last quarter for PMI was its interest in Swedish Match.

Philip Morris International is in takeover talks with Swedish Match over a multibillion-dollar deal that would expand its smoke-free business.

In May, 2022, Philip Morris Holland Holdings B.V. (PMHH), an affiliate of PMI, announced a recommended public offer to the shareholders of Swedish Match to tender all shares in Swedish Match to Philip Morris Holland Holdings at a price of almost 16 billion USD in cash.

This alignment is strategic because it has the potential to create a global smoke free champion with PMI’s leading heated tobacco and Swedish Match’s oral nicotine brands. It will also open US market for PMI with nicotine pouch which has long term opportunities for smoke free categories. But the deal is not completed yet and PMI announces that the transaction is expected to close in the last quarter of this year.

To sum up:

Across H1 as a whole, total shipment growth was strong.

IQOS’ growth was helped by the new ILUMA device.

Combustible products perform well to support smoke-free transformation.

PMI is focused on its smoke free portfolio. IQOS will continue its dominance of the Heat-Not-Burn ("HNB") category, to grow strongly in Europe and remain at least stable in Japan. PMI has also launched its own e-vapor products since 2020 and has entered the nicotine pouch market with its own products on a limited scale.

Management comments reiterated their “unwavering” commitment to the dividend and hinted at the possibility of increasing it with cashflows from Swedish Match after deal close.

In conclusion, PMI provides positive updates for its investors which make the share prices increase.

Smart investors and analysts are focused on how to earn returns and how to cash out. 

Investors and analysts make decisions by asking critical Questions. That’s why I prefer to give a special part for Q&A session from the Investors’ Meeting. The key Questions are on IQOS new user momentum, Swedish Match acquisition, OI Margin decrease, menthol ban in Heat Not Burn Products and reintroducing IQOS in the US market.

The first question is about the strong IQOS new user momentum.

According to Emmanuel, our CFO, People realize all the benefits they can get by switching from combustible cigarettes to the IQOS product.

Emmanuel also states that we are enlarging the choice and that makes IQOS even more desirable and attractive.

Additionally, Emmanuel highlights that launching ILUMA is the second stage of the rocket in the various countries to sell IQOS even higher, so it brings momentum. This can also easily be seen in the above graph.

The second question is about Swedish Match transaction and other potential acquisitions.

Emmanuel highlights that we continue to expect the closing of the transaction in Q4, of course, subject to Swedish Match shareholder acceptance.

He also mentions that the priority and the focus in terms of acquisitions is on Swedish Match for the time being.

The third question is about the decrease in the margins and its relationship with the higher costs of ILUMA and HTUs and if this situation will continue or not.

Our CFO says that inflation is one of the headwinds on the margin. Also, there are costs that are coming from the disruption in the supply chain, notably coming from the war in Ukraine.

Moreover, there is a temporary acceleration of air freight charges. Emmanuel mentions that We're not going to keep air shipping on the long term.

In conclusion, inflation and other headwinds seen in Half One are temporary from PMI perspective.

The fourth question is about the full availability of devices when there is chip shortage.

Emmanuel states that it is crucial for smokers to have Access to IQOS device in order to get converted. He mentions that we see a rapid replacement of existing IQOS blade device by IQOS ILUMA in the markets where ILUMA is launched. So, the main objective is to equip the core consumer with new devices. According to Emmanuel, this temporary shortage will finalize so its temporary impact on the margin will be cleared.

The fifth question is about the impact of the proposed elimination of menthol variants in the EU for heat-not-burn products.

Emmanuel highlights the facts that this plan needs to be approved by the Parliament and by the European Council. Emmanuel reminds that it already has happened on a combustible business with almost no impact or very limited impact. So, it isn't clear that this will have a meaningful impact if it happens on our heat-not-burn business.

The sixth question is about the timing of reintroducing IQOS into the marketplace in the US.

For those who are not aware of the latest IQOS situation in the US market, in November 2021, PM USA had to remove IQOS from the market due to an import ban and (cease-and-desist) orders from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Altria, which runs Philip Morris USA, announced it “does not expect to have access to IQOS devices” in 2022, but “remains focused on returning IQOS to the market and is working on re-entry plans.” 

Emmanuel only shares with the analysts that we expect to be in a position to introduce IQOS in H1 of 2023.

The last question is about Russia, mainly exporting IQOS devices to Russia and taking cash out of Russia for dividend payments are questioned.

Our CFO shares that there is no sanction for device export to Russia. Thus, although there are some limitations coming from supply chain related problems, exportation is not impacted.

For dividend Payment, it is not exercised by PMI so Emmanuel could not provide an answer about it. On the other hand, intercompany payments and royalties are paid without any problem.

All these announcements, investments and financials support PMI’s ambition to become a majority smoke-free product company by 2025, building on its 2016 commitment to a smoke-free future.

 

 

Unsmoke as a Sunday Evening Activity

Tonight, just after watching an animation movie with my son and wife, as a Sunday evening activity before sleep, my son asked for a special request: drawing

All he asked for was to draw something that each of us can work on different paper and share with each other when the whole drawing was finalized.

As a father who is not good at drawing figures, I came up with an idea: Unsmoke

Rather than a drawing, it is a little bit writing but at least it has an inspiration.

And here is the product:

Not the best drawing, but probably one of the best messages to the whole world!

For my other unsmoke related posts, please kindly visit:

http://volkanyorulmaz.blogspot.com/2019/04/unsmoke.html

http://volkanyorulmaz.blogspot.com/2019/06/how-i-unsmoked-my-best-friend.html

If you want to learn more about Unsmoke, then you should visit:

https://www.unsmokeyourworld.com

How I Unsmoked My Best Friend

Today, it is not easy to find and trust a person that you can start a close friendship. I have just a few friends like this and I thank God for surrounding me with these trustworthy people.

One of those nice people is Mehmet. I met with Mehmet in 2007. We were both tax assistants in PwC. He was from Ankara and I was from Izmir. Due to the fact that the trainings were held in İstanbul, we shared the same room in the hotel. Since then, we became close friends and shared many things. Despite the distances we have, we always feel close to each other. Time passed by, we had things to laugh and things to cry, the one thing that doesn’t change was sharing the good and the bad experiences. Then first he got married and became a father, and later on I got married and became a father, too. In the holidays and vacations, we got together and enjoyed. The tune that our wives and sons caught was so fine and we became like a big family. People say that good things do not last long. He and his wife had made a decision, and this decision affected their life. One of the changes by Mehmet’s side after this decision was starting to smoke.

I am working for Philip Morris International and my company recently called to action to smokers, nonsmokers, regulators and agents of change across the world to drive a better future for the world’s 1.1 billion smokers and their families, loved ones and communities. Our ambition is to lead the way toward truly global change: It is clear as crystal:

If you don’t smoke, don’t start.

If you smoke, quit.

If you don’t quit, change. That’s unsmoking.

It is a fact that burning generates the vast majority of harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Eliminating the combustion dramatically reduces the levels of harmful chemicals.

As a person I know about the better alternatives that are available to people who continue to smoke and through conversation I inform them about the right thing to do: Unsmoke

Below is a short story of Unsmoke which I touch Mehmet’s life and did something good for him, his life and his loved ones. The original story can also be read from

https://www.pmi.com/media-center/news/my-best-friend's-divorce

What made our story more meaningful is it is published on Best Friend Day which we will celebrate and talk about his smoke free future in the next years of our friendship.

My Best Friend's Divorce

How your soul mate can Unsmoke you when you need it the most

They say you can’t pick your family, but you can choose your friends. And, honestly, that’s a great thing, because who else can really save you when you’re in trouble with your family?

National Best Friends Day falls on June 8, and it’s the perfect moment to show your pal how much they mean to you. 

From heart-to-heart conversations to pulling all-nighters just to enjoy each other’s company, today is the perfect day to celebrate your sidekick. 

Some will opt for a card, others will pick up a silly gift. Most of us will give our chums a shout-out on social media. But Volkan (above, left) went well beyond for his buddy Mehmet (above, right): he unsmoked him.

Their friendship started back in 2007 when they were both tax assistants at a multinational company. They met in front of the hotel room that their manager had assigned them during a training week in Istanbul.

“It took a simple handshake to understand he was special,” Volkan says of Mehmet. They shared stories until the small hours of the morning and told each other their hopes and dreams until they couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore.

After that training week, “we kept in touch almost every day, mainly on the phone, as he was based in Ankara, a seven-hour drive from my home town, Izmir,” explains Volkan. Then they both fell in love with two young ladies, got engaged and, finally, married.

“I was his best man, and he was mine,” Volkan recalls. “Mehmet was very much in love with his wife, and they soon had a baby. Then my wife and I had a baby, and we spent every weekend together as a big family, it was a joyous time,” he says.

The two sons were playing soccer together, Volkan’s and Mehmet’s wives were getting along well.

But last winter, Mehmet phoned his best friend, sobbing: things were not going so smooth at his house, and the couple was considering a divorce.

“It was sad, like losing a part of the family,” Volkan observes. And things got worse when Mehmet admitted that, during those lonely nights as his marriage was unraveling, he started smoking. “He started with a few, and then it became a pack a day,” says Volkan.

“It was time to have a chat with him,” adds Volkan . But hard as he tried, he couldn’t convince Mehmet to quit entirely. However, during a business trip, one of Volkan’s colleague talked to Mehmet about smoke-free products. “Then he and I researched it together on the internet and consulted a couple of friends who already used one,” says Volkan.

Mehmet didn’t quit altogether but at least he is no longer smoking cigarettes. “It was a tough time for him, for all of us, but I’m happy because I feel I did something good for my best friend.”

No matter how messy our lives can get, our best buddies are always here to help.

A Sustainable Tobacco Company and its Transformers in Greece

Philip Morris International (PMI) is moving towards a smoke-free future – one without cigarettes. PMI and its employees believe that something needs to start today to accelerate the arrival of an unsmoked world. That’s why the company wants smokers, nonsmokers and unsmokers to join them in making this conversation a global success and to help them grow a community of people who will help bring about a truly smoke-free future. So PMI started a campaign and called it ‘Year of Unsmoke’. It’s the global campaign to rid smoke from your life, the lives of your loved ones, and generally the world.

The ‘Year of Unsmoke’ is PMI’s urgent call to action to smokers, nonsmokers, regulators and agents of change across the world to drive a better future for the world’s 1.1 billion smokers and their families, loved ones and communities.

As PMI moves from cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives, its journey is also about transitioning to becoming a global sustainability leader. Recently, PMI has announced its sustainability report for 2018. This is the fourth Sustainability Report details the company’s sustainability strategy, which covers its products, operations and value chain, and is an integral part of PMI’s mission to unsmoke the world. It has four pillars:

• Transforming business
• Driving operational excellence
• Managing social impact
• Reducing environmental footprint

The report publication is part of the company’s commitment to transparency. As PMI moves from cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives, its journey is also about transitioning to becoming a global sustainability leader.

André Calantzopoulos, CEO of PMI, says it is not enough to focus on product alone “Our sustainability ambition extends to the way we operate, manage our social impact, and reduce our environmental footprint. Society’s expectations of businesses are changing, and we must play our part in addressing global challenges”.

For PMI, sustainability means creating long term value while minimizing the negative externalities associated with products, operations and value chain.

In 2018 Sustainability Report of PMI, a case study is shared which identifies the transformation to smoke-free future in Greek affiliate (Papstratos) and its impact on social and economic structure of Greece. This case is an important example of how PMI manages its social impact.

 

Transformers in Greece

Imagine for a moment that you are a machine operator in PMI’s factory in Greece, it is 2016 and you are told the factory is converting to deliver new products that will contribute to a smoke-free future. Fast-forward to 2018 – transformation is happening everywhere. Not just in factories but also in communications, commercial, and external affairs functions, for example. We are proud to face the challenges, and Papastratos, our Greek affiliate, is an exemplary story.

“The only constant is our values, which have been our guiding light since Papastratos was founded some 87 years ago,” says the managing director Christos Harpantidis. So, once we had explained to employees why a transformation is taking place, most understood it to be a logical step forward. And, while change is not free of challenge, Papastratos recorded no serious negative economic impact for staff through 2016–2018. Ultimately, staff motivation was secured because PMI is intensifying the social dimension of its corporate purpose.

Our staff “get it.” And there is a domino effect as neighboring teams, in Bulgaria for example, gear up for growth in IQOS sales. But what caught our attention was that our agility at work was further primed by the long-standing government-debt crisis. People are willing to adapt. And while trust in business during the tough times has faded, Papastratos is recognized as a role model for rebuilding it. As Christos says, “People here see the transformation as an amazing period of their lives, and other companies in Greece can’t believe how fast we are moving.”

IQOS in Greece is already used by 150,000 people and 400 jobs are being created there in the smoke-free category. Core internal tasks for us in Greece have included achieving cultural and behavioral change, installing crossfunctional “enabler” teams, training over 500 people on new standards and machinery. Alongside that, we are installing new customer care and digital services, operating retail IQOS stores and e-commerce, expanding the sales car fleet, amending supply chain management processes, and engaging on our transformation vision with new external stakeholders, such as scientists and physicians.

Against this backdrop, we have assessed in 2017 the socio-economic impact of our business in Greece. Our findings showed that Papastratos contributed 2.2% to the Greek state revenues, with an economic value added (EVA) of EUR 157 million (0.1% of Greek GDP). For every EUR 1 of EVA by Papastratos, EUR 2.30 is added to the Greek economy, an increase of 66.7% on 2016. Additionally, every job at Papastratos indirectly supports 2.5 jobs in the overall Greek economy, thus supporting the income of 7,130 Greek citizens. Equally significant is the social impact of the Corporate Responsibility Plan, which invested more than EUR 2.2 million during 2009–2017 and aims to provide the most vulnerable social groups with relief from the economic crisis, while creating new economic prospects, empowering women, facilitating access to education, and supporting Greek tobacco growers.





Author's note: 

It is great to see PMI’s, a tobacco company, programs focus on promoting employment and decent work to improve the financial and economic security of the socially vulnerable individuals and families. There are many other cases stated in the Sustainability Report of PMI. If you are interested, you may read it from here:

https://www.pmi.com/resources/docs/default-source/pmi-sustainability/pmi-sustainability-report-2018-low-res.pdf

Unsmoke

Today is an important day not only for me but also my company. My own story of unsmoking my home is shared by my company, Philip Morris International, on the day we are starting a new year. Yes, it is not the first day of January but today is the first day of “the Year of Unsmoke”. For those who are not familiar with “unsmoke”, let PMI’s Chief Operating Officer Jacek Olczak define it:

Unsmoke is meant “to enable people to make an informed choice about the better alternatives that are available to them”

In the video below, you may also see PMI’s Senior VP Global Communications Marian Salzman’s description of “Unsmoke”:

With the launch of “The Year of Unsmoke”, Philip Morris International kicked off an urgent call to action to smokers, nonsmokers, regulators and agents of change across the world to drive a better future for the world’s 1.1 billion smokers and their families, loved ones and communities. The World Health Organization predicts that there will still be more than one billion smokers in 2025. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed. As an employee of PMI and as an “unsmoker” who has things to tell in order to unsmoke the world, I shared my own story and it is published on pmi.com. Here it is:

Unsmoke Hero: Volkan Yorulmaz

“I’ve got one son and he’s got one life." For Volkan Yorulmaz, the prospect of fatherhood prompted his decision to unsmoke his life and home.

The Turkish senior tax analyst is one of hundreds of PMI employees to share their stories in our #Unsmoke campaign, which aims to tap into global efforts to rid the world of smoke.

Volkan decided to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether when he and his wife were expecting their child. Together, they have given up and are not looking back.

“I had been smoking since I finished university,” he says. “I would describe myself as a social smoker, I really only smoked when I was out with friends or having meals. But that changed when I found out I was going to be a parent.”

“My partner and I decided to quit and we told our friends. From that moment on, they would have to smoke outside if they wanted to have a cigarette when they visited.”

For Volkan and his wife, the decision to unsmoke was the easy part. But getting their friends to agree was more of a challenge since they were accustomed to smoking in their living room when they visited.

Volkan says he and his wife want their guests to feel welcome and at ease. So he was apprehensive about telling them they could no longer smoke in their house.

“I was a bit shy when I first told my friends. I didn’t want them to think I was being rude. Fortunately, they understood why we wanted to do it.”

Volkan and his wife decided that as parents, they would ensure their house stayed smoke-free and their friends supported them. This support was valuable for Volkan because his decision to quit was driven by a desire to be around to enjoy every moment of his young son Okan’s life.

“I’ve got one son and he’s got one life. It’s the same for me and my wife. I unsmoked so I could spend every moment of my life with them. I would say, if you smoke you may see an episode of a television show. But if you unsmoke, you will see the whole series.”

This is my own “unsmoke” experience. I know everyone has different reasons, different stories, and behind all these drivers to unsmoke, the core message is:

If you don’t smoke, don’t start
If you smoke, quit
If you don’t quit, change
Unsmoke

PS. It is a great memory for me and my family to see our story shared by PMI’s social media accounts. I know we will look at these screenshots in the coming years and remember these early days of #unsmoke

Pmi.com: https://www.pmi.com/unsmoke/unsmoker-volkan-yorulmaz

Twitter: https://twitter.com/InsidePMI/status/1115222888364355586

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6520988599146684416