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The Moodie Blog is in Macau, preparing to cover the Grand Opening of the extraordinary new DFS Galleria Macao here on Friday.
After the long 11-hour flight from London to Hong Kong, it was a seamless transition to the Macau ferry (turbo jet) at the amazingly efficient Hong Kong International Airport.
There was even some time to buy some duty free at the Free Duty (Sky Connection) store, which was packed with customers.
Free Duty always has an outstanding wine offer (above) – especially for French wines – and I took the opportunity to buy an intriguing sounding (and, it transpired, delicious) unwooded Kahurangi Estate Chardonnay from my home country of New Zealand.
The Moodie Report Publisher regularly risks his liberty in the sake of getting some good photo images of the travel retail stores of the world and the regular cry of ‘no photos’ went up as I took these ones outside two of the stores (at Heathrow Terminal 5 I was formally cautioned under the Terrorism Act on one occasion for taking images of the World Duty Free store, which shows perhaps why the real terrorists keep getting away with it).
With my Kahurangi purchased and my camera still in my possession it was off to Macau – a pleasant one-hour boat journey away.
I’m staying at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, a place that almost defies description. Understated it is not. Successful and jam-packed with visitors, it is. There is more shopping here under one roof than you would find in a few decent sized US shopping malls laid end to end.
The casinos (above and below) are also bursting with customers – most of them from Mainland China.
Whether the Venetian is to your taste or not, I urge you to visit it at some point for the insight it offers into the emerging Chinese influence on our own industry, as well as the travel and leisure sectors.
DFS Galleria Macao is next door, at The Shoppes at The Four Seasons. It’s only a few minutes away, provided you don’t get lost, which is a perennial risk in this vast place. DFS has noted the point and its directional signage is conspicous from the time you enter the Venetian.
Look out for our report on the Grand Opening, both on The Moodie Blog and at www.TheMoodieReport.com. It promises to be a very special evening.