Bengaluru/Mumbai: War-driven cost pressures are deepening an already weak travel cycle, dampening luggage makers’ peak summer season and pushing them to pivot to smaller, lower-priced products from bigger suitcases. Higher airfares and geopolitical uncertainty have hit suitcase sales, forcing brands to lean on backpacks and accessories to protect volumes without eroding margins.
The April-June quarter accounts for about 40% of annual sales for luggage brands as families typically spend more on holidays and leisure travel. But companies said that this year, geopolitical disruptions, higher domestic travel costs, and a sharp rise in crude oil-linked raw materials have dampened the typical seasonal optimism, forcing brands to rethink their growth strategies.
According to ratings firm Icra, India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew just 1.6% year-on-year between April 2025 and February 2026, slowing from 16% in full FY24 and 7.6% in FY25. Icra said the moderation suggests that the post-pandemic travel boom had already begun to ease even before the recent geopolitical disruptions.
Higher fares, operational disruptions and geopolitical tensions have made leisure travel more expensive, weighing on discretionary purchases such as luggage.
This underscores a broader challenge of sustaining demand in a discretionary category, as consumers turn more price-sensitive during phases of turmoil. Brands are increasingly focusing on smaller, more frequent purchases to offset slower big-ticket luggage sales.
Reshaping sector
Industry data suggests the strategy could reshape the sector over time. India’s luggage market is projected to reach ₹267 billion by 2028, growing at 12% annually, with branded players accounting for 52% of industry sales, according to a 2025 September thematic report by Motilal Oswal.
Backpacks now account for about 17% of the overall luggage market, while categories such as handbags and other travel accessories together take the share of non-suitcase segments to over half of the total mix. This reflects a broader shift is underway, where companies are increasingly expanding beyond core trolley luggage into adjacencies that offer higher purchase frequency and stronger consumer engagement.
The Motilal Oswal report says legacy players such as VIP and Safari are leveraging their brand strength to build presence in backpacks, handbags and laptop bags to “increase share of wallet”, even as demand drivers such as rising student mobility, corporate travel and everyday usage make these categories more resilient and repeat-driven compared to traditional suitcases.
“Through disciplined inventory planning, strategic sourcing, and tighter supply chain controls, we’ve been able to absorb a significant portion of these pressures,” said Anuj Sawhney, managing director of luggage maker Swiss Military, referring to the rise in crude-derived materials such as polycarbonate and polypropylene used in hard-shell luggage.
Prices of fuels and petrochemicals, key inputs for the industry, have soared following the disruptions due to the US-Iran war.
Sawhney said domestic retail demand, including online, has been resilient.
Muted summer demand
Several companies said the typical summer season bump has fallen short of expectations.
Mohit Garg, co-founder and chief executive of Assembly Luggage, said the category has not seen the same acceleration it did in previous years. “If there was a spike of almost 25-30% from April earlier, this year, it is not more than 10-15% compared to March,” he said.
Despite the input cost surge, Garg said the company has so far avoided raising prices to keep demand afloat, but it may have to reconsider if raw material costs remain elevated for another few months.
Lokesh Daga, co-founder and director of luggage maker Nasher Miles, said the key holiday season demand has been subdued even as companies have so far held back on price hikes despite higher cost burden as consumers may then skip this discretionary spending.
“Some part of it (input cost rise) we absorb, some part of it we pass on to the end customer,” said Daga.
To manage the slowdown, Nasher Miles is reducing its inventory bets and trimming its fixed costs across operations. Daga said cost inflation is not confined to hard luggage because polyester, linings and other crude-linked inputs have also become more expensive across backpacks and soft luggage.
The luggage category is facing pressure from multiple fronts, according to Arvind Singhal, founder of consulting firm The Knowledge Company.
Higher domestic hotel tariffs—driven by limited room supply—and costlier air travel are raising the overall cost of vacations and therefore reducing luggage purchases, he said.
“There are headwinds rather than tailwinds,” said Singhal, adding that the pressure could continue through the September quarter.
Small is now big
Luggage makers are broadening their portfolios to meet the shift in demand and to offset slower sales of suitcases.
Sawhney said hard luggage remains the preferred choice for many consumers because buying decisions are still driven by durability and travel needs, rather than short-term price changes.
Assembly said backpacks now contribute 20–25% of its revenue, up from 5–7% a year ago, while travel accessories priced below ₹1,500 are seeing stronger traction as consumers opt for smaller purchases before committing to premium luggage. Garg said the company is seeing stronger demand for products such as passport covers and fanny bags.
Nasher Miles is also increasing focus on accessories such as packing cubes, neck pillows, passport covers and luggage scales—products that fit better into quick-commerce channels, where last-minute travel buying is growing. “Things which occupy very less space are the categories which we are working on very actively,” Daga said.