From Siberia to Shanghai

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

I’m flying over Novosibirsk, about five hours out from my destination, Shanghai, The Moodie Report’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Bureau in full production.

Yes, Novosibirsk (Russia’s third-largest city, population1,473,754) – regular readers of this Blog will know that I have an uncanny knack of timing my entries to coincide with flying over the Siberian city. One day, I vow, I will make a real visit.

On iTunes I’m listening to Claire Jones, harpist (face of Clogau jewellery and star of The Moodie Report 10th Anniversary Charity Ball in October), playing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.2 in F, Op.102 (from her new album, Girl with the Golden Harp, available on Amazon).

I challenge you to listen to this piece of music and not think of everyone you have loved or lost. The whole album is sublime.

 I’ve topped myself up with a glass of Félines Jourdan Picpoul de Pinet (no I had never heard of it either but it’s excellent in a lush, rounded style similar to, say, Albarino from Spain) at the Virgin Atlantic bar which has been doing a roaring trade all the way from London.

An American doctor of optometry and his wife regaled me there with how they had just spent £40 on duty free [from the outstanding Virgin Atlantic ‘Retail Therapy’ catalogue produced by concessionaire Tourvest) with some vouchers given to them by the airline for an inflight entertainment failure on an earlier flight.

“What did you buy?” I asked.

“A bottle of Smirnoff and a mosquito repellent band,” the doctor’s wife replied. Who said duty free didn’t cater to every taste?

I’m in Shanghai to attend the China Luxury Summit run by Fortune Character Institute, the pre-eminent authority on China’s richest individuals. They’re a remarkable organisation with a database of China’s wealthy consumers that others can only dream about. The Moodie Report has formed a joint venture with Fortune Character, through which we will publish an annual study on the spending habits of wealthy Chinese travellers, as well as supporting each other’s media and events.

I’m speaking about the profound influence of the Chinese traveller on travel retail at the China Luxury Summit in Shanghai later this week, a blue-riband event that will bring together some of the country’s wealthiest consumers as well as the brands that they covet. In turn, Dr Zhou Ting, Dean of Fortune Character Institute (and Associate Professor of Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics) will speak at The Trinity Forum in Abu Dhabi next January.

On the plane with me is Ying Wei, Deputy Editor of The Moodie Report China (below). I’m proud of that title, which we launched late last year but I’m even prouder of Ying.

Beijing-born, she’s a lawyer by profession, qualified in both Beijing and London. When we launched The Moodie Report China she applied for the Deputy Editor’s role but I had to turn her down due to her lack of journalistic experience.

Even after we hired another candidate, Ying refused to take no for an answer, offering to work for free as an intern to “prove myself”. She was determined to be a journalist and believed wholeheartedly in the concept of The Moodie Report China. Eventually we relented, hiring her (not for free I might add) as an additional resource on the new title. She grabbed the opportunity and has since become an indispensable, remarkable asset to our company, who brings a crucial Chinese consumer’s insight and a fantastic work ethic to what we do. Read her interviews with Chinese travellers at Heathrow Airport in last week’s edition and you’ll get a taste of what she brings to the party.

Without Ying The Moodie Report China would have been impossible. To say the project has been a challenge would be a major understatement. But entrepreneurial companies try things and I am thrilled to see the venture and all the hard work paying off thanks to the work of Ying and her colleagues.

The Moodie Report is a huge admirer of the achievements of Mainland-based Chinese travel retailers, such as China Duty Free Group and Sunrise Duty Free, and it is a real thrill to be covering their progress in their own language.

[A breathtaking view of the Huangpu River from The Ritz Carlton]

It’s also a thrill to be in Shanghai. As I finally make this blog ‘live’ I’m looking out over the lights of the city 45 floors up at The Ritz Carlton. What a sight. An unforgettable city, history and modernity combined to exhilarating effect. For a few days at least, that Virgin Atlantic Bureau has now been replaced by our Shanghai branch.