The Moodie Report Sri Lanka Bureau at the famous Galle Face hotel is now fully functional and I am wondering with this view whether I shall ever return to dank and dismal London. Anyway, why would I need to? The travel retail industry has descended on Colombo. Or that’s how it feels anyway… Industry figures from all around
Blog
Airports
A questionable question of authenticity
“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). – Alice in Wonderland And indeed, I found some of the signage at Autogrill Lanka’s duty free stores at Colombo Bandaranaike Airport curious and then… curiouser. ‘Guaranteed 100% genuine products’ screams the signage outside
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Miscellaneous
Showcasing the spirit of Berlin
The opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandy (pictured above and below) in June will be a historic moment for aviation in the German capital. In 1990, Germany was reunited as a single country, with a newly reunited Berlin reinstated as its capital. But it has taken more than 20 years for air traffic
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Miscellaneous
Flemingo flies in Colombo
I’ve arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, along it seems with half the travel retail industry, for Friday’s wedding of Rakhita Jayawardena’s daughter Aneeka. It’s certain to be a great occasion. More to follow. Today, fresh (or not) off the plane from Heathrow, I took a tour of the new Flemingo duty free Arrivals and Departures
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Airports
A-plus for atmosphere; Z for Zinfandel in Zürich
A quick trip to Zürich yesterday left me a few hours to experience the commercial offering at the airport, which has benefited hugely from the recent creation of a centralised security operation, complemented by revamped walkthrough Departures duty free shops run by The Nuance Group. Love them or hate them, there’s no question that walk-through
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Miscellaneous
Schiphol speciality store adds lustre to spirits business
The Moodie Report paid a visit last week to Finest Spirits & Cigars, Schiphol Airport Retail’s (SAR) high-end wines, spirits and cigars boutique – and discovered just why the Schiphol Group-owned subsidiary is building its reputation as one of Europe’s most progressive travel retailers. The store is only open four months but already sales are ahead
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Events
Be Inspired
Here’s a story that has particular resonance for me, as a fanatical supporter of the All Blacks rugby team but also as a huge admirer of the Munster provincial side in Ireland and their outstanding supporters. Last year I was contacted by Limerick-based author John Garrett (below), who was writing a book (now published*) on heroic
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Events
Plenty of cause to smile in China
Heartwarming news reaches us from Beijing where cleft charity The Smile Train (www.SmileTrain.org) this week called a press conference to announce that it has now funded and performed 250,000 free cleft repair surgeries in China. The conference was attended by over 50 media agencies, while three live surgeries were broadcast to show the nature and
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Miscellaneous
Now you see it…
As super-powers go, being invisible is surely up there with the best of them. There can’t be too many among us who would pass up the chance to wander around unseen and undetected, if only for a day or two. Invisibility is equally desirable for certain make-up products – think foundation, powder and concealer (despite
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People
A New Year’s Wish – to be sure
And so we close out another year. On an industry level it has been a typically fascinating12 months. On a personal level it has involved a momentous journey. You will excuse therefore the intimacy of this final Blog of 2011. One year ago to this day I was just commencing my final three weeks of
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Airports
Vincenzo Bellini hits the high notes in Catania
An airport does not have to be big to have an excellent commercial offer. A case in point is Catania-Vincenzo Bellini Airport, located south-west of Catania, the second largest city on the Italian island of Sicily. The airport’s name pays homage to 19th century opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, dubbed ‘the swan of Catania’, a
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Airports
Gatwick’s good, bad and ugly
Flying to Sicily for a few days’ break before Christmas, I spent a couple of hours at Gatwick Airport North Terminal viewing its commercial proposition. As always, the Gatwick offer is a mixed bag. A curate’s egg, as they say. When it’s good, it’s very good. When it’s bad, well… First, as one would say
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People
Farewell to the man from Tumortown
“And on that day [of my death], I’ve realised recently that I’ll probably be in the newspapers, or quite a lot of them. And etiquette being what it is, generally speaking, rather nice things being said about me. Just typical that will be the edition I miss.” – Christopher Hitchens With great sadness I note