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One of the myriad joys of living in Hong Kong is the sense of travel retail community here. So many companies have their Asia Pacific operations based in the Special Administrative Region that almost every week I have numerous meetings – business, social or both – in Central or Kowloon with brands, agencies or retailers.
Last Monday, for example, I had the great pleasure of catching up with the travel retail team at Bvlgari Travel Retail, who were preparing for the worldwide (travel retail and domestic) mega launch of the Bvlgari Allegra Maxi Shelley at the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex in Haitang Bay, Hainan, in partnership with China Duty Free Group (CDFG).
The special line of Maxi Shelleys is designed to complement and personalise the exclusive Bvlgari Allegra fragrance collection launched in Haitang Bay in January. Bvlgari Allegra Maxi Shelley combines the Italian brand’s fragrance and silk heritage in a 360° luxury experience at CDFG which offers enhanced personalisation to accessorise the fragrance collection.
Allegra means cheerfulness or joy in Italian and certainly that sense of emotion is evoked by the bright hues and rich textures of the Maxi Shelleys and the vibrant colours and evocative scents of the fragrances. I met Canny Kwok, Managing Director Asia Pacific Perfume Travel Retail together with her Sales & Marketing Director Mendy Cheung and Marketing Manager Clara Wong and was simply wowed by brilliance of the activation and the quality of the collateral that went with it.
Four days later the results were there for visitors to Haitang Bay to see. We will bring you some in-store imagery later this week on our main site but for now take a glimpse please at the exquisite showcasing of Italian craftsmanship in the video below.
I ended up putting the finishing touches to that story while taking a hugely enjoyable boat trip with King Power Group (HK) Founder & Chairman Antares Cheng; his daughter Karli, who besides being a key member of the company’s marketing team also produces the best, most exquisitely curated cakes to order in Hong Kong through her firm Arte by Padaria (see my earlier Blog on these most tempting of delights here); Group Chief Executive Sunil Tuli and other members of the King Power team.
As you can see from the photos below, Erin Lillis, Travel Retail Director Asia Pacific at Lacoste, and I were the sad ones with our laptops out but once our respective tasks were completed it was time to enjoy the beauty of the waters and islands off Hong Kong, some great food and wine, and some brilliant company.
Days like this remind me also of how fortunate I am to be living in what has been pretty much a COVID-free environment for months. Yes, it is frustrating not being able to re-enter Hong Kong without an extensive hotel quarantine and yes we would all love to see the SAR’s tourism business open up as soon as possible. But for now, I will simply count my blessings and enjoy the magnificent diversity of this magical place.
