(New York, NY) Tumi, the leading international brand of prestige travel, business and lifestyle accessories is pleased to announce a three-year licensing agreement with Ducati, the Italian manufacturer of high performance motorcycles. Launching in February 2006, the exclusive Ducati Collection by Tumi will include a range of eight racy black and Ducati red travel and accessory bags that will feature the company’s logos. The collection, which includes wheeled luggage, backpacks and messenger bags, will retail in the USA between $125 for a small map bag to $550 for a large wheeled duffle and will be available through 500 Tumi retail stores and Ducati’s network as well as top specialty and department stores worldwide. “Tumi is the most innovative, design-driven luggage and briefcase brand in the world,” says Laurence Franklin, CEO of Tumi. “We are thrilled with a partnership that brings together two internationally recognized, high-performance brands. It is an arrangement that emphasizes our individual strengths and expands our visibility in new markets.” Federico Minoli, Chairman and CEO of Ducati, declared: “We are delighted to have achieved another excellent result and to be able to add Tumi to the number of our official licensees. It is a brand that is perfectly in line with the Ducati philosophy: Tumi products are at the top of their sector, they are highly functional and their finishing touches are reminiscent of the world of Ducati motorbikes.” Tumi has been diversifying its product range by adding new categories to its highly successful travel, business case and day-bag collections. These category extensions are part of Tumi’s global strategic growth initiative which also includes opening ten free-standing Tumi retail stores in the USA and an additional five in Europe and Asia per year over the course of the next three years. Tumi currently has over thirty stores in the USA and twelve in Europe and Asia. As part of the marketing efforts between the two companies, Tumi will become official sponsor of the Ducati factory team competing in the MotoGP World Championship. Tumi will also develop additional products that will be customized for motorcycle enthusiasts, as well as day and travel styles for general use. Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse CEO, added: “I’d like to welcome Tumi as one of our sponsors. The Ducati Corse MotoGP team will be enthusiastic about travelling around the world with the products of such a prestigious brand.”