Miscellaneous

Planes, Trains & Automobiles – the Ryder Cup Return

[Dermot ‘Divot’ and Martin Moodie preparing for Ryder Cup action] I’ve escaped intact, exhilarated in fact from four days at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles near Edinburgh, despite being holed up with some of the most dangerous company in travel retail. Courtesy of Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman Colm McLoughlin, I and my

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Miscellaneous

Hairing around London Fashion Week with Toni & Guy

I used to think Cannes was tough – but that was before I did London Fashion Week. Reader, after just three days racing around the whole of south east London, beset by serious hair and outfit angst, suddenly the prospect of five days on the Riviera is looking positively restful. It’s taken me a fortnight

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Miscellaneous

Flying Divots as Ryder Cup begins

Welcome to The Moodie Blog’s first roving bureau. I’m writing this from the Fraser Suites in beautiful Edinburgh but I’ll be updating it from Gleneagles, about an hour from here. No, there’s not a lot of travel retail business going on at Gleneagles – but there’s a lot of travel retail executives there. That’s because

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Miscellaneous

Winding down, then up again, post Trinity 2014

I’m exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Every which way. Running an event such as The Trinity Forum simply takes it all out of you. Besides the intensity of the preparation, it’s the pressure-cooker atmosphere of managing the introductions, the time-keeping, the speeches, the speakers, the room, the audience, the question and answer sessions and much more besides that really

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Miscellaneous

Travel Retail Consortium conjures up Animal Magic

There are plenty of party animals in travel retail and, I daresay, the occasional spot of monkey business, so the choice of venue for the Travel Retail Consortium’s (TRC) annual Business Lunch last week – London Zoo – was nothing short of inspired. London Zoo was an inspired venue for the TRC 2014 Business Lunch

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Miscellaneous

Paul Smith socks it to me before Sunrise in Shanghai

This Blog begins at the Emirates Lounge at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3, waiting to fly to Shanghai, via Dubai. I suspect it may not end here… I’m heading to Shanghai for the 15th anniversary of Sunrise Duty Free, where I’m privileged to be the sole international travel retail media representative. I’ve tracked Sunrise closely since

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Miscellaneous

Every picture tells a story at Zürich Airport

  One of the most experienced and respected executives in the travel retail sector was comparing notes with me the other day on airports that really stood out in terms of their commercial offer. “Have you been to Zürich Airport lately?” he asked me, “Don’t you think it’s outstanding?” I had and I do. I’ve

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Miscellaneous

Unafraid of heights; unafraid of difficulties

Sometimes you just have to forget the superlatives and simply say ‘Wow’. In fact, I probably heard the expression more on a single day, 1 September, than I have in the past decade, as brand executives reacted to the stunning new CDF Mall at Haitang Bay on Hainan Island, China. As the sole industry media

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Miscellaneous

No making (duty free) allowances for western leaders in Vladivostok

If US President Barak Obama or German leader Angela Merkel happen to be travelling through Vladivostok Airport this year, they better not expect to stock up on duty free. An in-store sign banning Obama and Merkel, along with the UK, Canadian, French, Australian and Japanese leaders David Cameron, Stephen Harper, Francois Hollande, Tony Abbott andShinzo

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