The new EU security rules are proving hard to grasp not just for travellers, but also for shop staff and security personnel charged with advising those travellers. And when mistakes – honest mistakes – are made by personnel at BAA and Dublin Airport Authority – two of the companies you’d bet your house on getting
Miscellaneous
LVMH hounds Chewy Vuitton but case rejected
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal revealed this week that LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury-goods maker, has lost a legal challenge against a company that sells dog toys with mock versions of LVMH logos. A federal judge in Virginia rejected claims by LVMH’s Louis Vuitton Malletier unit that the name ‘Chewy
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Miscellaneous
A Walsh Welsh sporting upset on the cards in Dubai golf?
Determined to make up for the humiliation of his native Wales by the All Blacks yesterday (All Blacks 45, yes that’s right 45… including 5 tries – to 10, yes that’s right, just 10 – Ed), well-known industry executive Kevin Walsh is making an unexpected bid for glory at the annual Dubai Duty Free Golf
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Miscellaneous
Tales from the 19th hole – battling the odds
Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, the industry’s premier sporting event, gets under way today, with over 120 international and local players battling it out over the two-day tournament. Day one takes place at the Montgomerie Course, followed by the climax to the tournament at the magnificent Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club on Sunday.
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Events
A grim backdrop for a booming business
One of the miracles of the Middle East duty free channel’s success in the past decade has been the way it has flourished in the face of non-stop political volatility. As delegates gather in Dubai today for the annual Middle East Duty Free Association (MEDFA) Conference, they will be reminded of that backdrop by the local newspaper
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Events
This one’s for the Yipper
The big travel retail event here in Dubai is just days away and expectations and tension are equally high. Some of the industry’s top names will be on show and some animated dialogue is expected. The MEDFA conference? No – the Dubai Duty Free World Golf Cup, by popular acclaim the best social event in
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Miscellaneous
Raising the average spend (through the roof)
Emirates ‘flying Scotsman’ Duty Free Manager John Sime reckons the global average spend per transaction inflight is around US$75-100. With business currently up by +33% year-on-year, Emirates is pretty adept at raising the average ticket price. But neither John Sime nor anyone in the history of the business has seen the likes of the spend
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Events
An industry shooting itself in the foot
“We are hearing of confiscations of the magnitude of 1,200 litres a day in certain places.” Those are the words of European Travel Retail Council President Frank O’Connell in a briefing to The Moodie Report yesterday on the impact of the new 6 November EU aviation security regulations which mean that passengers arriving in EU/EEA
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Airports
A question of taste
Virtually any delegate attending the recent TFWA World Exhibition would have had the opportunity to visit what is in our eyes one of the best gourmet stores in travel retail as well as one of the best examples of Destination Merchandise. We’re talking about the quite wonderful Hediard store at Nice airport. Hediard, of course,
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Miscellaneous
A spell-binding celebration of life
“In Africa we welcome and welcome and welcome.” So said Airports Company of South Africa General Manager George Uriesi as the 2006 ACI Annual General World Assembly & Exhibition opened in Cape Town last night. And how they welcomed us. Delegates sat transfixed as the 35-member Umoja brought the sounds, rhythms, music, dance and power
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People
‘Oh power of Scotland’ – or ‘How to raise the average spend’
Two of the industry’s great characters, great influences and great Scots, Aer Rianta International’s Bill Maxwell (left) and Emirates Duty Free Manager John Sime celebrated long into the night after the Frontier Awards in Cannes. This followed the success of Emirates in winning Best Partnership Initiative of the Year for its remarkable alliance with German
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Miscellaneous
The Moodie Report wings its Cannes news coverage
The Moodie Report prides itself on the use of new technology to bring the latest news with immediacy to a global industry. But we are not too proud to call on more traditional means of communication where necessary. Such a situation arose as we planned our coverage of TFWA World Exhibition in the lead-up to