Up close and personal in travel retail
SwanSong Smiles will simultaneously honour several landmarks – the 20th anniversary of our (and travel retail’s) relationship with Smile Train; the 25th anniversary of The Moodie Davitt Report; my 40th year in travel retail; and the 80th anniversary of the duty-free industry. Wow, what a joyous, joint celebration it promises to be.
‘The website that never sleeps’ may at no time have paused for rest but The Moodie Blog, I’m delighted to say, is out of hibernation.
I don’t know what my year will bring, either personally or professionally. But I embark on the 24th year of The Moodie Davitt Report with hope in my heart, clarity in my vision and determination to make a difference in anything I and we do.
Roopa and Bhairappa’s love story was of two people who found strength, dignity and joy in each other. Two hearts that showed all of us that love has no barriers, no labels, no limits.
November is lung cancer awareness month. Harry responded by launching ‘The Sinead Especial’, a sublimely tastebud-tempting taco based on some of my daughter Sinead’s favourite ingredients. How about that?
When I spied him at the British Airways desk, I noticed Peter was checking in his golf clubs. “What did you need those for?” I asked, a fair question, I thought, given I had played golf with Peter on a couple of occasions at the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup.
Cancer is an all-too common curse in our world and to see how many others in our industry have been touched by it and fought it either personally or through a family member made Sinead, I know, feel less alone.
I didn’t show emotion, I felt numb. I didn’t cry. I wouldn’t allow myself to think. I didn’t want to think about my husband and kids and what their future would be. I couldn’t let my mind go there.
“This is a shop that refines what is possible and a symbol of a rising Ethiopia. This is more than a retail space, it is a statement that Ethiopia is raising the bar.”
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.
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.
“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.”
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.