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“As iconic to travel as coke is to soft drinks.”
That’s one of the aspirations that Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) holds for its new ‘Shop-Dine-Unwind’ brand concept, unveiled yesterday at TFWA Asia Pacific in Singapore.
The new commercial brand replaces the old ‘Abu Dhabi Duty Free’ tagline and extends it to all airport consumer services from duty free to specialist retail, food & beverage and passenger lounges.
Last night ADAC celebrated the launch with an excellent dinner for media, retailers and other guests. I had the pleasure of sitting with ADAC Chief Commercial Officer Huraiz bin Huraiz (below) and it’s clear he’s determined to create something of consummate class at the existing Abu Dhabi International terminals and, most excitingly, the new Midfield Terminal Complex due to open in 2015.
At the brand unveiling yesterday, ADAC showed a video of how the Midfield Terminal Complex will look. Prepare to be amazed. The aviation world has seen nothing like it.
I like the Shop-Dine-Unwind tagline. It’s softer than, say, Schiphol’s hugely successful ‘See, Buy, Fly’ and more experiential.
Importantly, ADAC says the brand is easily transferable outside of Abu Dhabi and will eventually enable the company to highlight the quality of its travel retail offer “within ADAC-managed airports internationally”.
That’s a clear hint that the company has serious international aspirations to broaden its portfolio outside the UAE. And when Abu Dhabi hints at something, action usually follows.
[ADAC Chief Commercial Officer Huraiz bin Huraiz at the unveiling of ‘Shop-Dine-Unwind’]
[Kate Ashley of ADAC and Martin Moodie speak with their respective teams back at base to check that the ADAC ‘Shop-Dine-Unwind’ banner has gone live on The Moodie Report.com]