Who will be the first travel retailer to launch an own label mask? Qatar Duty Free perhaps? Dubai Duty Free through its in-house Akaru brand? How about destination-specific masks, surely a winner in the travel sector?
Airports
High ambition at Hamad International, high anxiety in Hong Kong
Thabet is in especially upbeat mood at present thanks to his beloved Liverpool recently being crowned Premiership champions in the UK, their first title in 30 years. I swear I could still see the smile on his face through the face mask he donned during our meeting.
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Travel
Bravo Heathrow, bravo Qatar Airways, but work required Travelex
This is where we go so wrong so often in the west. A mask is there for a reason. You don’t wear half an oven mitt to protect yourself from burns.
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Travel
Flying the flag of 2020
Boris Johnson said that the government had “underestimated” the extent of asymptomatic transmission and didn’t fully understand the coronavirus in the “first few weeks and months”. But now, 45,762 deaths later, they do understand. So that’s alright then.
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Airports
Doing the right thing in Switzerland
I’m confused. Do I turn left (France) or right (Switzerland)? Well, as I always like to do the right thing, I’ll enter Switzerland.
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Airports
Anything to declare?
The volumes involved were well in excess of any allowance other than that perhaps of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport arrivals duty free.
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Airports
Experiencing a Eureka moment at Hamad International
My final trip of the year, and indeed of the decade, is over. And what a great way to close out the 2010s it turned out to be.
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Airports
From Busan to the (Gate 35) Bridge
How long before an innovative luggage company invents a special SKUcase instead of suitcase for daigou traders?
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Events
All (very) black in Tokyo, all smiles in Doha
The pressure now really kicks in and I must admit to even greater nerves than on the eve of the All Blacks match – and I was a shivering wreck then.
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Events
White trumps black as England soar in Yokohama
Chaps, like thousands of fellow Englishmen in Tokyo and back at home in the UK, was near delirious with happiness. And who can blame him?
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Airports
Plenty of dazzle in Daxing; lots of fun (北京坊) in Beijing
The risk in describing Daxing is that you might run out of superlatives. It is an extraordinary testament to architectural genius; and a statement that airports can be beautiful as well as functional, soul-enriching as well as commercial and efficient.
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Airports
Nau mai! Haere Mai! Back in Aotearoa
When you look at the inflight screen flight path and you see the Antarctic looming up as next stop beyond your destination you know you’re a long way south.
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Travel
Homeless in Hong Kong but home again in the land of the long white cloud
Which airline could keep me connected for longest and with the best line speed? Cathay won hands down. I suspect I am not the only travel retail executive deciding that connectivity is key to choice of carrier.