Up close and personal in travel retail
Two ultra-exclusive products, born of a product synonymous with the duty-free industry, an astoundingly sustained success over decades. And two acts of kindness, different in scale but bound together by a common sense of humanity as tightly as a Toblerone bar is by that irresistible mix of honey, almonds and nougat
Selfies with a large, anthropomorphic, red-and-yellow honey bee. Up close and personal with Ronald McDonald. A close encounter with Hong Kong’s famed Pink Dolphins. All in a day’s work for a travel retail Publisher.
The event will simultaneously celebrate several landmarks – the 20th anniversary of our (and travel retail’s) relationship with Smile Train; The Moodie Davitt Report’s 25th anniversary; my 40th year in the channel; and the duty-free industry’s 80th anniversary. Wow, what a joyous, joint celebration it promises to be.
‘The website that never sleeps’ may at no time have paused for rest but The Moodie Blog, I’m delighted to say, is out of hibernation.
I don’t know what my year will bring, either personally or professionally. But I embark on the 24th year of The Moodie Davitt Report with hope in my heart, clarity in my vision and determination to make a difference in anything I and we do.
I ended up buying two more tins, each bearing the birth years (most definitely not to be revealed but clearly I knew what was on their Christmas fish-lists) of my wife Yulim and The Moodie Davitt Report Publisher Irene Revilla
Roopa and Bhairappa’s love story was of two people who found strength, dignity and joy in each other. Two hearts that showed all of us that love has no barriers, no labels, no limits.
A nightcap was called for, Torres 15 Reserva Privada Imperial Brandy to be precise. But could I open the unusually shaped top? It looked like a simple enough exercise but the only thing that was simple was my bafflement. Without giving the game away, the technique is what Bob Dylan might call A Simple Twist-off Feat.
November is lung cancer awareness month. Harry responded by launching ‘The Sinead Especial’, a sublimely tastebud-tempting taco based on some of my daughter Sinead’s favourite ingredients. How about that?
When I spied him at the British Airways desk, I noticed Peter was checking in his golf clubs. “What did you need those for?” I asked, a fair question, I thought, given I had played golf with Peter on a couple of occasions at the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup.
My palate might not have been best attuned to sipping whisky at that hour of the morn but a combination of the TREX status, the renowned quality of Penderyn and Lee’s persuasiveness overcame my admittedly feeble resistance.
Where once, the town was synonymous with the Wagnerian thunder of ironworks and coal mines, now you’re more likely to hear the soothingly sweet symphony of birdsong from 70 species of feathered friends.
When the Hong Kong Observatory issued the No. 10 Hurricane Signal, I reckon if I had stepped outside I wouldn’t have needed British Airways – I would simply have been blown to London.
