How Duty-Free Shopping Began in Ireland
Bottles of alcohol and perfume cover the walls, surrounded by traditional souvenirs, sweets and piles of Toblerone chocolate. Welcome to duty-free shopping!
It's a multi-billion dollar industry, but it all began in an airport in the west of Ireland.
It was 1947, and the world was recovering from the economic and social shock of World War II.
But it was also a time of opportunity, and in Shannon Airport, an innovative young manager named Brendan O'Regan had an idea.
Shannon is Europe's most westerly airport, and in the days before jet planes, older aircraft flying from the US to Europe would stop there to refuel.
There was a major port in the area, too. And when O'Regan was sailing home after a trip to the US, he noticed that duty-free goods were sold on board.
Duty-free is a centuries-old term that means goods are sold without the usual taxes being added, so the product costs less.
These were allowed to be sold on ships because they were traveling in international waters, and so could be sold without local taxes.
O'Regan wanted airports to be treated in the same way. So he encouraged the Irish government to pass a law that allowed part of the airport to be seen as "no man's land" — not technically part of Ireland.
He opened the world's first airport duty-free shop in Shannon in 1947 — but his walls weren't covered with bottles, and the shop was only the size of a shed.
At first he sold local produce and souvenirs. But later he began selling alcohol, which was very popular — prices were sometimes just a third of those in regular shops.
His idea soon spread around the world, with Amsterdam becoming the next airport to introduce a duty-free shop in 1957.
Regulations have changed over the years, and so have the prices — no longer are the deals quite so good, but it's still possible to find a bargain.
Perhaps you'll remember the name of Brendan O'Regan the next time you fly!
