Thursday, February 6, 2025

Heathrow in Bloom: Airport unveils map of the world, made entirely from fresh flowers

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heathrowDubai, UAE – Passengers travelling through Heathrow, the UK’s hub airport, have been treated to a scent-sational new installation in the form of a giant floral map of the world. Created by florist Larry Walshe using around 2,000 fresh flowers and other curiosities, including raw amber stones and sandalwood, the impressive living artwork in Terminal 5 was unveiled to celebrate the new season of fragrance.

Heathrow’s new global fragrance report highlights purchasing trends of passengers travelling through the airport, as well as wider fragrance behaviours from across the world. The installation offers unique insight into the four key fragrance notes of the new Autumn/Winter season: woody, fresh, oriental and floral, in addition to fragrance preferences from around the globe.

Each country in the map depicts the fresh scents that feature in the most beloved fragrances of different nations. According to the latest data from World Duty Free, the most popular fragrances among Emiratis are those with an overarching oriental scent, including Tom Ford Black Orchid, Guerlain Santal Roya and the YSL Oriental Collection.

While oriental scents featuring spice notes such as cinnamon and ginger are preferred in the UAE, fresh scents including mint and mandarin feature as favourites in India. Floral, rosy fragrances hit the right note for Brits, while lavender and orange blossom tantalise the senses in the US and Mexico.

The most popular scents across the globe were revealed to be jasmine, lavender, rose, vanilla and sandalwood, all of which ranked highly in the UAE. According to a YouGov survey commissioned by Heathrow last month, musk was also very popular among UAE respondents (34%), but their least preferred notes were sage, bay leaf and bergamot (2% each).

Proving that perfume really does complete an outfit, nearly half of UAE residents (46%) said they have multiple go-to fragrances, which they choose to wear on different occasions. With fragrance long-renowned for its powerful ability to evoke strong memories and emotions, the report also revealed that 14% of UAE residents still wear a fragrance they were first given by a loved one.

In the spirit of keeping things fresh and exciting, a third of women in the UAE (33%) said that they have tried a new fragrance because they love to experiment.  On the other hand, over a quarter of men (26%) said they have tried a new perfume after smelling it on a relative or friend.

The study also revealed that life milestones have an impact on tempting some people in the UAE to try something new, with one in ten people (10%) changing their signature scent when entering a new relationship or starting a new job (11%).  With five bottles of fragrance sold every minute at Heathrow, the data also revealed that travelling outside the UAE inspires a scents of adventure, with nearly one in five (19%) of them picking up a new fragrance before heading off to new shores.

Highlighting the importance of perfume testers and samples, over a third of UAE residents (35%), especially women (39%), said they are influenced by smelling samples or reading about fragrances in magazines. However, only 6% said they are attracted by celebrity endorsements of particular fragrances.

Heathrow’s new fragrance report also reveals that UAE residents are likely to decisively follow their nose when choosing a new fragrance, with three in ten people (29%) attracted to specific notes in a scent. India, on the other hand, is all about the brand name, with nearly a quarter (22%) admitting that they would choose a fragrance based on the designer. China is the most led by iconic scents, with one in four (26%) saying that they are attracted to iconic fragrances because of their popularity. Globally, it seems that Brits are the least likely to be influenced by celebrities, with only 2% choosing a fragrance based on a celebrity endorsement.

Chris Annetts, Heathrow’s Retail and Service Proposition Director said: “September is a really exciting month for us when it comes to fragrance. Heathrow is home to around 3,405 fragrances across 104 brands. We have both exclusives and new season fragrances, including a new floral exclusive Tom Ford Vert Boheme, as well as a new season fresh CK One Gold. We wanted to celebrate our amazing collection by bringing the scents to life and helping our passengers better understand the fragrance notes they enjoy the most.  Larry’s floral artwork is a fantastic way for Emiratis to explore new fragrances as well as enjoy their favourites when they fly with us.”

To commemorate Larry’s exhibition at Heathrow, World Duty Free has created a limited edition gift wrap inspired by the installation for passengers who purchase any fragrance during the month of September.

Fred Creighton, Managing Director at World Duty Free said: “Our exclusive gift wrap by celebrated British artist Larry Walshe is the perfect way to present a fragrance to someone special. Our dedicated fragrance team as always will be on hand to help customers navigate our carefully curated selection of scents to ensure customers find the perfect match for themselves or a loved one.”

With over 2.6 million bottles of perfume sold at Heathrow each year, the study found that the following fragrances top the charts around the globe:

Country Most Popular Fragrances (World Duty Free data)
United Arab Emirates Tom Ford Black Orchid, Guerlain Santal Roya, YSL Oriental Collection
Qatar YSL Oriental Collection, Dior Sauvage, Giorgio Armani Prive Rose D’Arabie
Kuwait Guerlain Santal Royal, YSL Oriental Collection, Dior Sauvage
United Kingdom Gucci Bamboo, Dior Miss Dior, Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir
USA Gucci Bamboo, Dior Miss Dior, Jo Malone Lime Basil and Mandarin
India CK One, Davidoff Cool Water, Gucci Bamboo
China Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia, Jo Malone Red Roses, Jo Malone Wild Bluebell
Nigeria Gucci Bamboo, YSL Black Opium, Dior Sauvage
Hong Kong Dior Miss Dior, Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia, Jo Malone Red Roses
Germany Emporio ELLE, Boss FEMME, Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt

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