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As a bitterly cold snap clamps England in its grip – the heating is turned up full in The Moodie Report Worldwide Headquarters (above) – it’s time to head to warmer climes.
I’m flying out tonight to New Delhi to witness the marketing launch for the duty free tender at Indira Ghandi International Airport’s new Terminal 3. En route I’m stopping for a few hours at Abu Dhabi International Airport, where its own new Terminal 3 is due to open in coming days. At this stage the plan is to a proper site visit of the UAE facility on my back way from Delhi.
Both of these are big stories in travel retail terms. The Delhi tender represents the biggest duty free opportunity in the country to date, with the spectacular new terminal due to come on stream in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Much interest is expected in the tender with all the industry majors expected to be in New Delhi over coming days.
The interesting question is how much of a dampening effect on bid levels will have resulted from the global and Indian economic downturn, the recent Flemingo challenges to duty free awards in Bangalore and Mumbai, and the Mumbai massacre of late 2008.
We’ll find out soon enough. It promises to be a keenly contested tender. For our part we’re delighted to be flying into India – it’s critical that all of us in the business community do not give into the terrorists by staying away from the country post the Mumbai atrocities. That would be allowing them a terrible victory of sorts.
Meanwhile the Abu Dhabi Airports Company team, from senior management down, have been working day and night to have the new T3 open. Word has it that we will soon be witnessing something spectacular. Watch this space.