Sometimes, often in fact, the travel retail sector restores your faith. After the recent riots in London made one despair for the human condition, it was uplifting to hear from two industry executives over the past week who delivered notes of great kindness to Moodie HQ. The first came from Stuart Bull (above), the long-time ‘Mr Mars’
Events
The Cup is Coming Home
Rugby World Cup fever is breaking out in New Zealand. The tournament, held every four years, begins on 9 September with a game between the country’s famous All Blacks and Tonga and concludes with the final in Auckland on 23 October. The Moodie Report will be there every inch of the way – I will
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Airports
Championing in-store excellence
Bravo to Aldeasa-WDF for not only organising the first competition between shops across its UK and Spain networks but for the way in which the newly integrated retailer did it. The concept, designed to reward excellence at particular retail establishments, saw London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 and Málaga Airport pick up the respective UK and Spanish
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Events
Racing down to Rio
Travel retail’s ultimate marathon man, Dubai Duty Free’s newly promoted Vice President of Operations Sean Staunton, has completed one of the industry’s truly great feats in the cause of corporate social responsibility. As revealed in an earlier Blog, Sean set out to run four marathons across four continents in four months. That’s a total of 168km,
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Airports
It’s the real McCoy as champion jockey switches rides
It’s not a story we would normally run, but we loved the images so much we just had to… Heathrow Airport today announced that 16-time champion jockey AP McCoy had swapped his horse for a ride-on suitcase to compete in the first-ever ‘Trunki’ race at Heathrow to launch the airport’s programme of summer activities.
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Events
Sean’s epic journey continues
Travel retail’s ultimate Marathon Man, Sean Staunton, is continuing an epic endurance feat around the world. As revealed in an earlier Blog, the Dubai Duty Free Manager – Operations is running four marathons across four continents in four months. That’s a total of 168km, all for a mighty cause – to raise funds for travel
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Events
Entering the festival spirit at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival (24-26 June, 2011) was one of the most exhilarating weekends of the Irish social and racing calendar, let alone within the travel retail year. With golf at the prestigious Palmer Ryder Cup Course at The K Club, a glitzy black tie ball in aid of Irish Autism Action,
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Events
A toast to ASUTIL
Last September, just after the ASUTIL conference in Puerto Rico, the Latin American duty free association’s President Paco Heredia stopped off in London to participate in the Frontier Awards judging. While he was there he left me an envelope to collect from a local hotel. At the time I had just been through a few
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Events
The Moodie Tipster strikes (treasure) again
Yes folks, you really did read it here first… The mysterious Moodie Tipster (pictured above in a careful disguise) struck again with Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. In our special readers’ competition last week, offering the chance to win a ticket in the Dubai Duty Free ‘Finest Surprise’ luxury car draw, the Tipster wrote:
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Events
Derby day, Dubai Duty Free style, in Dublin
The day has dawned sunny though blustery in Dublin and all is set fair for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby later today. Along with the Dubai Duty Free team and several of their industry colleagues and friends I’m staying at The K Club, the wonderful leisure resort that hosted the Ryder Cup back in
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Events
The Moodie Tipster: Who will win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby?
It’s been a while between drinks as they say, but I’m glad to report that The Moodie Tipster (as the carefully disguised photo above shows, we cannot reveal his identity) is back in business for this Sunday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh racetrack in Dublin. Regular readers of this Blog will know that
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Events
Running for Japan
About a year after returning to my English homeland, I can reflect more calmly on the mental trauma wreaked by four years of life in Paris, writes John Rimmer. The City of Lights can be a dark place for an Englishman, or “un Anglo-Saxon” to employ the phrase the locals commonly use. Withering put-downs about
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Events
Singapore swings and slings on the Tulis’ simulated fairways
[Sunil Tuli, Susan Whelan of King Power (Thailand) and Martin Moodie] Some of the travel retail industry’s more talented and eccentric golf swings were on display in Singapore last week and The Moodie Report was on hand with a fast shutter speed camera to capture the action. The occasion was an informal introduction to the Greens