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From ACI Europe’s usually sound Airport Business, comes an ‘interview’ with Peter Marshall (the man behind Airport Dynamics TV and the TRunblocked blog) titled ‘Can a blog change an industry mindset?’
I’m not going to give this self-serving piece undue publicity, except to pick up Peter (a man I admire and like) on the following observation, the second such he has made in recent months (here’s the first).
A lot of airports and retailers tend to believe in their own PR – that’s a dangerous thing. There is an undeserved arrogance there. They are supported generally by a fawning, lazy, unchallenging trade press, who do little more than replicate press releases. The plain fact is that this business is considerably behind what is out there. Online retail is an increasing threat to the very lifeblood of this industry. Not enough is being learned or adapted from the domestic marketplace.
Oh Peter, I like your videos but what are you doing? This is Trumpesque in its sweep, grossly inaccurate in its facts, and misguided in its aim. I am going to have to get cross…
Those readers who know me (or knows anyone who works with or for me) will struggle I hope to associate the terms fawning, lazy and unchallenging with me or us. As for airport and retailer arrogance, I suspect that trait is better applied to the interview than its targets.
Airport Business allows readers to comment on articles via a box at the foot of each stories. I took up the invitation. Five days later, mine remains unpublished, ‘awaiting moderation’ (I presume they mean by the editors not me). But as they haven’t published my response, I will. Here it is.
So Mr Marshall…. “A lot of airports and retailers tend to believe in their own PR – that’s a dangerous thing. There is an undeserved arrogance there. They are supported generally by a fawning, lazy, unchallenging trade press, who do little more than replicate press releases.”
I have seldom read such twaddle in my life. I suggest Peter Marshall come and try a week’s stint at The Moodie Davitt Report, and see how much ‘fawning’ we do, and how ‘lazy’ we are (my regular working week is over 100 hours). He might want to attend our (and ACI/ACI-AP’s) Trinity Forum and see that we do nothing BUT challenge the industry; and he might want to actually read what we publish (including some of his not exactly challenging videos that he plugs above in this unbylined interview) to check out whether we do “little more than replicate press releases”. I doubt that is how we generate over 550,000 page views a month.
Has he read our articles on daigou shopping; on industry consolidation; on digital disruption; on the merits of the tender model; and numerous other key issues pertaining to airport commercial revenues?
The only thing ‘lazy’ here is the sweeping generalisations of the article, the all-too-easy prophet of doom voice; the ‘airports are back in the dark ages’ claptrap; and the (unknown) journalist for being prepared to run the story. I am surprised that ACI Europe would allow such a blatantly self-serving, inaccurate and unfair article to be published.
Martin Moodie, Founder & Chairman, The Moodie Davitt Report