[Paul and Brontë at last August’s London Triathlon] This message comes from Paul Hogan, owner of PPS Publications, a good man and the father of a beautiful, brave little daughter called Brontë who has battled a long illness and whom I have written about many times on this Blog. It requires no embellishment from me other than an
People
Goodbye to Brian Hayward, a great friend of duty free
Sad news about the loss of a great industry servant reached us last month from Australia, via David Segreto who runs DFS Group’s Auckland Airport operation. “Brian Hayward [who died after a long illness with cancer] was a great family friend but also a great friend of the duty free industry in Australasia,” writes David.
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Miscellaneous
Celebrating the best of German food & beverage
The Moodie Report paid a visit to Frankfurt Airport this week, to see the airport’s acclaimed food & beverage operations and visit its award-winning concessionaires – and we weren’t disappointed. It was a visit that underlined the depth, variety and terrific heritage that German food & beverage can boast – but that is too often
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Miscellaneous
Hats off to the Black Caps – and Dubai Duty Free
On the day that New Zealand’s heavily unfancied cricket team dubbed the ‘Black Caps’ turned over hot favourites South African in the World Cup quarter final, what better way for a Kiwi publisher to celebrate than to invest in some swanky new headgear? To be truthful I didn’t even know the match result at the
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Miscellaneous
Brogan is back
The Moodie Report is delighted to reveal that rumours of Pat Brogan’s death have been greatly exaggerated. The genial Irishman and wife Kay were back in Orlando this week, armed with a new product that is already making inroads in the Americas. Pat and Kay have been best known in recent years for Brogan’s Irish
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Miscellaneous
Tairo treats the trade to a truly Wicked evening
Last night distributor Tairo International treated over 100 of its customers and brand partners to a truly Wicked evening of entertainment, at the IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas. Tairo’s Tania and Robert Bassan hosted a Wicked evening in Orlando At 6pm buses transported the lucky group to the Carr Performing Arts Centre in
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Miscellaneous
Scents and the city
How do you capture and embody the essence of a city in a bottle? That’s the challenge posed – and the proposition offered – by a new fragrance house called The Scent of Departure (www.thescentofdeparture.com). The house is headed by Gerald Ghislain, a French fragrance creator (pictured below with designer Magali Sénéquier) who refers to himself
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Miscellaneous
Women in Travel (WiT) support Hand in Hand for Haiti
Members of the Women in Travel (WiT) networking group met bright and early this morning at the IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas, in Orlando. The well-attended 7.15 am breakfast meet and greet was hosted by Travel Markets Insider Editor Lois Pasternak and Christine Deussen, President of Deussen Global Communications. “Consider this a network,”
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Events
How the Garden City will rebloom
Sad news today from my hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand where organisers of this year’s Rugby World Cup have decided to move all games from the earthquake-hit city to alternative locations. Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully (below) made the announcement today, noting that the two quarter-finals will go to Auckland and the five pool
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Events
The (King) Power of the human spirit
Sometimes acts of generosity occur in this industry that take your breath away. At Duty-Free News International’s excellent charity ball last Friday one such moment happened. The ball was dedicated to travel retail industry project Hand in Hand for Haiti. Funds raised will be used to build an on-site clinic at the Lycée Jean-Baptiste Point
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Miscellaneous
Tragedy and catastrophe in Japan
How does one even begin to digest, or describe, the tragedy of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan? Even to a world that has grown all too used to disaster on a grand scale, the magnitude of this still evolving catastrophe defies belief. Whole communities have been virtually wiped out, destruction and death has happened
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Events
Just what the doctor ordered
Right. That’s quite enough of these hospital visits for, shall we say… a decade or two? How do you tell your surgeon and oncologist, wonderful people that they are, that you hope you will never meet them again? I’m back at home base, clasping a fine glass of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc while I write and
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Miscellaneous
Regaining focus
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson I’m back at home after my second unexpected hospital visit in three weeks. I’ve been incapacitated for much of the past week, having been operated on last Friday to fix the post-surgical complication