Every business needs an alternative investment strategy and The Moodie Report’s is paying off nicely. Looking around for another global sector such as travel retail, full of risk, reward and uncertainty, we found one… horse racing. Over recent months we have conducted a number of online readers’ competitions involving Dubai Duty Free-sponsored horse races, at Newbury
Miscellaneous
Down by the Liffey in a place of beauty
The Kildare Hotel & Golf Club – better known as The K Club – must be one of the most beautiful hotels on the planet. Set in some 550 acres of woodland and parkland, including its own private stretch of the River Liffey, this is a place of rare and pristine beauty. Last night Dubai
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Events
Dub(lin)ai Duty Free comes to Ireland
Dublin Airport has been turned into an enclave of Dubai in anticipation of Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. When The Moodie Report arrived in Dublin on Friday, we, like all passengers, were met by a sea of red. Dubai Duty Free signs were all around the arrivals hall, from the baggage area to the
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Events
More miles, more smiles and a Mission Impossible
And so we’re off again… Following the fantastic success of the first travel retail industry ‘Miles for Smiles’ fund-raising run in Dubai late last year, the event will be repeated on 21 November at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. For the uninitated, Miles for Smiles is divided into two events, 10k and 5k, allowing participants to run
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Airports
High class in Catalonia
Anyone interested in the evolution of airport terminal buildings should jump on the next flight to Barcelona El Prat Airport’s new Terminal 1. The Catalan airport has long been a favourite of many people I respect highly in this business but the new terminal represents a whole new quality dimension. I have seen many splendid new terminals
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Airports
Dazzling with the destination offer
One of the glaring deficiencies in many airport retail offers is the lack of attention given to destination products – creating a strong Sense of Place not only in design but also in how the shelves are stocked helps, we believe, deliver a point of difference, one that consumers are more likely to respond to.
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Miscellaneous
Answering the age-old question
“I can’t tell you I can turn a 90-year old woman into a 30-year old woman today, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t trying or that it might never happen. It’s still a goal that we won’t give up on.” The words are those of Dr Dan Yarosh, the impressively titled Senior Vice President, Research
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Airlines
Carted off to jail?
I am looking forward to hearing the case for the defence from those charged with ground theft at London Heathrow Airport, following a series of police raids last month. As we reported, the raids followed an investigation by UK inflight sales security consultant STI – Airline Sales & Services Limited* into ground theft from aircraft at
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Miscellaneous
Security still the greatest barrier
If anyone doubts the devastating impact of slow, stringent security on footfall and penetration in our channel, take a look at the picture below. It’s the scene at Brussels International Airport last Saturday, 6 June, at around 9am. The passengers you see in the foreground are still around 10-15 minutes from reaching the security point,
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People
Farewell Paul
When I place my hand in a cold pool and fingerling salmon nibble the ends of my fingers, I know the pool will freeze over and the fingerlings will live under the ice until May when the ice will thaw and the adult salmon will swim into the river’s main channel and eventually work their
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Miscellaneous
Exposing a leaky Danish defence
Last week’s Nordic Travel Retail Seminar in Copenhagen was another solid regional conference with plenty of strong content from across the industry. But the biggest talking point was probably the contribution of Marianne Jelved (above), who will forever be remembered as Denmark’s Economics Minister when her country struck the fatal blow that consigned intra-EU duty
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Airlines
You pays your money and you takes your choice
Last month Emirates announced an increase to its free baggage allowances for all passengers. It was a surprisingly unheralded story, which didn’t generate the headlines it deserved. For the move ran precisely against a worryingly strong trend among the airline community that increasingly sees passengers as ancillary revenue-generating units rather than paying guests – and we’re talking about revenue for