The Moodie Report always likes to make a difference in people’s lives and it was with great pleasure – and a lot of fun – that we did exactly that at Doha International Airport on Friday. Qatar Duty Free Company, a subsidiary of the Qatar Airways group, runs a highly successful car raffle at the
Blog
Miscellaneous
Kicking up a storm in Qatar
The Moodie Report is operating today out of its temporary Qatari bureau at the Marriott Doha Hotel. Sand storms have hit Qatar over the past two days and outside my fourth floor hotel window a white haze hangs like a drape over this burgeoning city. We’re just minutes away from Doha International Airport, where, later today
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Miscellaneous
Mrs Sime I presume?
The Moodie Blog is proud to announce a new name within The Moodie Report’s ranks. However the face, we are reassured, remains unchanged… We are talking about the former Mandy Shine, now reincarnated as Mandy Sime, our Commercial Director and newly married better half (so she tells us) of Emirates Vice President Duty Free Services
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Miscellaneous
Deadline dash in Istanbul
The Moodie Report has visited many airport construction sites in our travels, but scarcely one where the pressure to meet the opening deadline was so heavy with meaning as that at Sabiha Gokcen International (SGIA), Istanbul’s second airport. There are now less than four months until the 29 October opening of the new airport terminal.
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Miscellaneous
Injecting fun into the travel retail experience
We like to champion new concepts that add fun, creativity and vitality to the travel experience – and we’ve found one in ATU Duty Free’s new Toys Tunnel at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport (which The Moodie Report is visiting this week). The retailer – a joint venture between TAV Airports and Unifree, in which Gebr
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Miscellaneous
Macadamia’s marathon man
Seven children will receive new smiles and gain new hope following the successful completion of the Melbourne half marathon by James Kfouri, travel retail head of Paton’s Macadamia Plantations. As previously reported, James dedicated his run to travel retail’s favourite charity, The Smile Train. On a beautiful fresh Melbourne morning he completed the run in
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Events
Earning Fame & Glory the easy way
Every business needs an alternative investment strategy and The Moodie Report’s is paying off nicely. Looking around for another global sector such as travel retail, full of risk, reward and uncertainty, we found one… horse racing. Over recent months we have conducted a number of online readers’ competitions involving Dubai Duty Free-sponsored horse races, at Newbury
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Miscellaneous
Down by the Liffey in a place of beauty
The Kildare Hotel & Golf Club – better known as The K Club – must be one of the most beautiful hotels on the planet. Set in some 550 acres of woodland and parkland, including its own private stretch of the River Liffey, this is a place of rare and pristine beauty. Last night Dubai
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Events
Dub(lin)ai Duty Free comes to Ireland
Dublin Airport has been turned into an enclave of Dubai in anticipation of Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. When The Moodie Report arrived in Dublin on Friday, we, like all passengers, were met by a sea of red. Dubai Duty Free signs were all around the arrivals hall, from the baggage area to the
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Events
More miles, more smiles and a Mission Impossible
And so we’re off again… Following the fantastic success of the first travel retail industry ‘Miles for Smiles’ fund-raising run in Dubai late last year, the event will be repeated on 21 November at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. For the uninitated, Miles for Smiles is divided into two events, 10k and 5k, allowing participants to run
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Airports
High class in Catalonia
Anyone interested in the evolution of airport terminal buildings should jump on the next flight to Barcelona El Prat Airport’s new Terminal 1. The Catalan airport has long been a favourite of many people I respect highly in this business but the new terminal represents a whole new quality dimension. I have seen many splendid new terminals
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Airports
Dazzling with the destination offer
One of the glaring deficiencies in many airport retail offers is the lack of attention given to destination products – creating a strong Sense of Place not only in design but also in how the shelves are stocked helps, we believe, deliver a point of difference, one that consumers are more likely to respond to.
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Miscellaneous
Answering the age-old question
“I can’t tell you I can turn a 90-year old woman into a 30-year old woman today, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t trying or that it might never happen. It’s still a goal that we won’t give up on.” The words are those of Dr Dan Yarosh, the impressively titled Senior Vice President, Research