Blog

And I’ll be a World Rover, no never, no more…

The Moodie Report is more used to writing about best-sellers in duty free than being one of them. So imagine our excitement at spotting a beautiful display for a limited-edition version of our book ‘The World Rovers’ at Dubai Duty Free this month. The book, co-authored by Dermot Davitt and yours truly Martin Moodie, tells

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Maui Jim comes out of the shade to climb new peaks

It may be a newcomer to the travel retail channel but Hawaiian sunglasses brand Maui Jim is quickly making a name for itself. That’s down to a quirky style, great people, innovative promotions – and, of course, a quality product. The brand has its origins on the beautiful beaches of Maui, Hawaii (yes there is a Maui

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A (wash)Room with a view

The folks at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) have thought of everything in creating the ultimate consumer experience at the long-awaited new Terminal 3. It’s a spectacular place, spacious, futuristic and user-friendly all in one. We were given a sneak preview of the terminal by CAAS Director (Commercial) Lim Peck Hoon this week and we

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Miller magic confirms Blog bookmaker’s optimism

The Moodie Blog has decided to launch a bookmakers’ division after a Nostradamus-like prediction of the results of the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, which concluded on Monday. As exclusively predicted by The Moodie Blogmakers (as the division is to be known) husband and wife team Art and Nancy Miller topped the respective international golfing fields at

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Sizing up the odds at the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup

Dubai, Saturday. Tension is rising in the final countdown to golf’s fifth ‘major’ – the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, which tees off later today at the Four Seasons Golf Club in the heart of Dubai Festival City. The 36-hole tournament concludes the following day at the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. Once again the

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Showing travel retail’s great heart

Two of the industry’s big charitable initiatives of 2007 and 2008 share a heart-warming link. This week our media colleagues Raven Fox (publishers of DFNI) announced an excellent cause for their annual fund-raising Charity Ball (29 February at the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel in London). The chosen recipient is the Children’s Research and Medical Foundation at

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The good, the bad and the ugly

A quick return trip from London to Madrid the other day offered interesting contrasts between some of the stores in London Heathrow T1 and Madrid Barajas T4. Generally Heathrow and Madrid count among the better exponents of airport retailing but my experiences last week showed that our sector can get it badly wrong as well as thrillingly

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Savouring the spirit of partnership

Cask 811. It’s a name that promises to be on more than a few malt whisky lovers’ lips in 2008. The cask in question hails from the beautiful Isle of Islay – the ‘Queen of the Hebrides’ as it is often dubbed. It currently resides in the dank warehouse of Morrison Bowmore Distilers, where the air is filled

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Avoiding the perfect storm

Just when it all seems to be going wrong, it all goes right. Airport construction delays, the now all-too familiar LAGs restrictions, a sharp decline in passenger numbers driven by the country’s pull-out from an important regional carrier (Gulf Air) and even – yes, you read it right – a Middle East cyclone. It all

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The Art of Antiquitease

How do you follow a PA by Sean John, flanked by a buxom bevy of lingerie-clad lovelies posing on a podium? With MAC Antiquitease, of course. The Estee Lauder Companies’ traditional Monday night cocktail evening in Cannes needed to go some to top last year’s celebrity-studded bash – but that’s exactly what it did. (Real)

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Andy’s back in the fast Lane

News that long-time Whyte & Mackay Travel Retail Director Andy Lane (above) has taken up a similar post at independent drinks company Ian McLeod Distillers is welcome. Andy is one of the trade’s most genuine individuals, and committed and knowledgeable with it. For the past few months he has been consulting for Ian McLeod Distillers,

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Lock-out at Maison Moodie Report

[Photo: Mrs Moodie Report] The nights are setting in down at The Moodie Report Worldwide Headquarters (also known as ‘The Shed’). Fall has fallen in London and with it the night shift becomes just that little more onerous. Given the demands of our 24-hour industry and a packed editorial programme, the nights are often long

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Reflections on TFWA World Exhibition 2007

Now the carnival is over… TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, the glittering annual extravaganza of the duty free and travel retail industries, drew to a muted close on Friday with a quieter than usual last day due to the Air France strike that hastened the exits of many overseas delegates. The ‘breakdown’ of a trade

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