To counter the resulting decline in sales, Tortuga has introduced the Liquor Travel Safety Pack, especially designed to protect liter bottles in checked luggage.

The bubble wrap liquid proof bag with an easy press and seal closure ensures travelers that their purchases will be protected with no leakage should a bottle get broken.

The company has tested its invention, putting three bottles in a packed canvas suitcase and dropping it from a window height of 20 feet without breakage. Another test included a sealed bag full of water packed for 24 hours without any seepage.

“We want our customers to be confident that their liquor purchases will get home safely in their checked luggage,” said Robert Hamaty, founder and president of the Tortuga Rum Company who designed the Liquor Travel Safety Pack with an agent in China.

“The bag is reusable so they can use it when they get home for carrying wine or spirits for boating, camping and picnics.

Additional advantages of the safety bags are that three wrapped bottles still fit into already designed duty free corrugated card board carry home boxes. Or for those who have onward connections, the carry home box can be eliminated, saving the retailer that expense and the pack put into a plastic shopping bag instead.

Since the TSA ban of carry-on liquids, the global duty free industry reports a 17 to 20 percent drop in sales.

Tortuga experienced a similar decline in its liquor sales for cruise and airport duty free. All travelers with connecting flights from a ship’s home port or an airline connection now are required to place duty free liquor in their checked luggage.

Following the new regulations, Tortuga’s sales staff immediately offered to bubble wrap bottles, but found the number one concern was fear that a break would ruin clothes in the suitcase.

Mr Hamaty believes the new Liquor Travel Safety Pack will alleviate this issue and can help other duty free retailers also.

“The bag could be used for duty free perfume and cosmetics, as well as all liter bottles or smaller,” said Mr Hamaty who wants interested companies to contact him via email at rmhamaty@candw.ky .

“We have a bag for 1.75 liter bottles being designed and the factory has the capacity to quickly fulfill container load orders. We hope this initiative will help the duty free industry recapture more sales.”

A retired airline captain, Mr Hamaty sees packing liquor in checked luggage becoming a common occurrence, especially as airlines add more carry-on restrictions.

He notes that airport revenue from concessions helps to reduce landing and gate fees and therefore the airlines should have a vested interest in a thriving duty free industry.

Mr Hamaty and his wife Carlene, were Cayman Airways employees when they noticed that tourists were bringing home bottles of rum, even from islands where sugarcane was not grown. That sparked the 1984 introduction of Tortuga Rum of the Cayman Islands, made from special blends of Jamaican and Barbados rums.

In 1987, the enterprising couple opened their first duty-free liquor store and later that year introduced the now world famous Tortuga Rum Cake.

Today, this family owned and operated company is the Cayman Islands’ largest duty free liquor business, with 16 retail outlets and three bakeries. Franchise bakeries are in Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas.

Mr Hamaty’s daughter Monique and her husband Marcus Simmonds run Tortuga Imports/Tortuga Rum Cake Company in Miami Florida, handling worldwide distribution, food service, mail order and online sales.  Tortuga Rums of the Cayman Islands are now sold in the USA. See www.tortugarums.com