In travel retail parlance it’s like a Buy One, Get One Free promotion – Get a tan and your complimentary coronavirus!
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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Miscellaneous
Rum moments as Wilson takes full control of Moodie Davitt HQ
Every day now LinkedIn is full of messages from really talented, loyal, hard-working people who have lost their jobs in travel retail through no fault of their own.
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Airports
Checking out destination Nowhere and checking in to destination Hong Kong
The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
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Lifestyle
How Jägermeister aims to #SavetheNight
The home freezer is no place for frozen vegetables and other household necessities when you’ve got a couple of liquid beauties like this on offer.
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Events
Fast lane, green lane, any lane will do
Some time in the next few days I will become a grandfather for the first time and, like all grandparents and parents down the ages, I worry what kind of world this young miracle of biology will come bursting into.
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Events
Live from the Lough Down Bureau: A Fiscal Wonder as The Moodie Tipster picks the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby results
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, The Moodie Tipster is currently self-isolating in Lough Down, a pretty little lake in County Galway.
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People
Hope it won’t be long till this trouble is gone
In just three months, Pray has been viewed 25,514 times on YouTube, played on 20 radio stations in Canada, and featured on Dubai radio, courtesy of Dubai Duty Free. And, of course, it has been heard many times as the intro to our Podcast series In Crisis: Travel Retail Voices.
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Events
Bunnahabhain and Duty Zero turn virtual into reality
Last night when I finally brought a long, long day to an end, I poured myself a small glass of the 40yo, cut it with a dash of water, took in the treasure trove of aromas, looked out over my garden through the still dark night and thought everything was good in the world.
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Lifestyle
Mr Happy and Mr Grumpy battle for control in the Lockdown Bureau
“Martin, this will be the first time so many of us have exhibited at a ‘cancelled’ Expo. Now that’s what I call virtual!”
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Miscellaneous
Scaling the mountain and remembering those beginning the ascent
I suppose the fact that this is now June 2020 means that I did scale that mountain. Others I know and care about are just at the foothills, a long and difficult ascent ahead.



