Right across the YVR estate there is compelling evidence of avid consumer-centricity at every level, from operational excellence to the focus on accessibility, inclusion, sustainability, sense of place and innovative technology
Airports
Why mogo is a go go at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru
“Most people see airports as buildings and planes, I see them as people – millions of people that come together,” Hari Marar told me over coffee at the Taj Bengaluru. It’s an opportunity to influence a large cross-section of people and maybe humanity.”
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Airports
Discovering colour, compassion and inclusion at Kempegowda Airport
If Bengaluru Duty Free is the airport world’s best arrivals duty-free shop, this Mitti Café is surely its most special food & beverage outlet, ‘The Magic of Abilities’ writ large across the warmest smiles you could ever hope to encounter.
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Airports
Looking back and forward as Ever Rich Duty Free stands firm at 30
Ever Rich Duty Free is indeed, like Confucius, standing firm at 30. Firm to its values of integrity, professionalism, innovation, commitment to public welfare and dedication to the greater good laid out by Founder & Chairman Simon Chiang three decades ago.
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Travel
On location for an Ever Riching experience in Taipei
Any requests? Something by The Moodie Blues, I suggest?
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Events
Showtime in Singapore prompts the need for a glorious obsession
It’s a brutal corporate world out there at the moment and with the great Chinese wave that has driven our industry for the first quarter of the 21st century now resembling a series of gentle ripples (in spending, not traveller, terms) reinvention is the name of the game.
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Airports
Writing like an angel in Haikou and heading for the stars in Singapore
The calligrapher kindly asked me to choose a design of my choice. Admiring the bright orange hues and the lovely shape of the lettering, I made my choice. “What does it mean?” I asked. “It means ‘Write like an angel.”
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People
From Hong Kong to South Canterbury – A Global Gift of Support
“Your support means so much to us and will directly contribute to creating meaningful opportunities for women and girls across South Canterbury. This small group of women has collectively given and raised over NZ$75,000 in the last three years.”
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Quirky
Mama don’t take my Toblerone (Dark) away
I feel a ‘Buy 30 get 11 free’ offer coming on. Forget Chief Brody’s famous lines from Jaws, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” For World Duty Free CEO Fred Creighton it will be a case of “You’re gonna need a bigger basket.”
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Events
Trail hiking and talking travel retail at the Hainan Expo
You practically need a hiking pole and boots to get around each Expo hall but it’s worth the effort to see the incredible advances being made by the Chinese across multiple fields.
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Events
From magical Mumbai through Colombo (though nearly Heathrow) to high octane Hainan
All of us in travel retail have had these moments of not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Not only would a Heathrow transit mean 28 hours or so of flying plus transit time from Mumbai to Hong Kong, but I’d actually not be back in time for my subsequent flight to Hainan.
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Travel
On location (near) Mumbai (3) – Finding rest and resilience at Oleander Farms
In family terms, the Ahujas also put the worst of times to the best of use, transforming the family ranch with astounding alacrity and vision into the outstanding facility it is today.
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Travel
On location in Mumbai (2) – How TFS continues to embellish a proud legacy
Later that day I attended the K Hospitality and TFS annual party, a fabulously fun occasion. Asked by Sunil to say a few words, I took the audience back all those 5,806 nights to the TFS launch and summed up the extraordinary narrative since. What a journey this has been.