INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Davitt Report is delighted to celebrate a special milestone on 16 September: our 20th anniversary.
As we mark the occasion, we are proud to announce a stepping up of our Corporate Social Responsibility programme, beginning with an enhanced commitment to two of our longest-standing causes – cleft charity Smile Train and non-profit 501(c)3 environmental charity One Tree Planted – details of which will be announced in our dedicated Magazine (digital and print) being produced for TFWA World Exhibition and The Trinity Forum (1-2 November). The programme includes sizable donations from our FAB Superstars and TR Superstars (Smile Train) and Trinity Forum (One Tree Planted) events.
Our story began on 16 September 2002, when a new title in travel retail publishing – The Moodie Report – was unveiled via a six-page PDF report, produced initially in cooperation with Generation Group of Sweden.
The Moodie Report adopted (and has retained) a radically different publishing model. It rejected the traditional high subscription fee base that had hitherto dominated travel retail publishing and instead made its information available to all under what became a familiar ‘Fast, Factual, Free’ tagline. Unrivalled market penetration allied to high-quality content was the constant mantra.
The first edition [written solely by Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie] pledged to change the traditional media formula and to focus not only on key business developments but also the industry drivers that underpinned them. The word ‘Report’ was carefully chosen to represent the voice of this new information service.
The major items in the first edition were:
- Travel retail braces itself for war [the second Gulf War –Ed]
- DFS losses curbed: Much hinges on Iraq, global economies
- Generation unveils 2001 figures – down -5% – due to post 9/11 slump
The likely invasion of Iraq was the big story though. “No question about it, war is in the air and many travel retailers are preparing for yet another drastic downturn in business,” Moodie wrote.
Some six months after the launch of The Moodie Report in pdf, the brand was extended to include a website (informally dubbed ‘The website that never sleeps’, thanks to the unrelenting focus on keeping it updated throughout each day, and night, that still characterises the service today) and an eNewsletter – another industry first.
In October 2003 the first print edition was launched, proving an instant success with its unique ‘Moodie’ sizing that ensured it stood out from its rivals and was easily carried by industry executives while travelling.
As an organisation we have continued to invest heavily in innovative digital media, which today features videos, podcasts, the hugely popular Moodie Blog, a Digital (& Print) Magazine (offering multi-media advertising as well as editorial) and much more.
As with the pdf’s launch in 2002 and the website’s introduction in 2003, The Moodie Report eZine’s debut in late 2011 changed the face of travel retail publishing. The eZine features regular insight into the industry’s biggest developments, presented via a unique multimedia platform, with interactive content throughout.
The company has homed in on new markets too, in 2011 launching the industry’s only Chinese language title, The Moodie Report China, and (in the same month, August) The Foodie Report, dedicated to travel-related food & beverage.
Our China coverage has recently been reinforced with the launch of a fresh title for that market, The China Travel Retail Report, which will appear quarterly. That is complemented by our popular and fast-growing WeChat service, which now has 3,180 subscribers via the platform in China.
Uniquely, all variations of our titles have remained free of charge to readers. All, too, have become clear market leaders in their respective sectors – the Print Edition going from a standing start in October 2003 to clear commercial leadership (which it retains today) by 2005.
We have also tried to champion as well as seek excellence. In 2003 we conceived The Trinity Forum, which has become the world’s most influential airport commercial revenues conference (now a partnership with ACI and ACI-Asia Pacific) and has consistently sought to advance industry standards and challenge accepted norms.
In 2011, The Moodie Report launched its second successful event, The Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards, which has become a beacon for that burgeoning industry sector.
The most recent edition was held virtually just this week (click here for more), before a return to an in-person event in 2023.
Continued innovation
With the industry coming to a standstill in early 2020 due to COVID-19, we took our digital innovation drive to new heights, creating a series of digital events, led by the Virtual Travel Retail Expo, which later won a Frontier Award (for Best Collaboration with agency FILTR.QINGWA), following up the event in 2021.
In 2021, we also created a special awards programme to recognise the contribution of front line and back of house staff across the industry, from retail to dining. The Travel Retail Superstars and FAB Superstars Awards resonated across the sector, with the second edition of each taking place this week (see below).
We maintained our innovation drive in other ways too, developing the Spotlight series of eZines dedicated to key industry events, anniversaries, launches and campaigns.
We have led with new audio and video projects too. Complementing our regular podcasts is our TRI-POD series of video interviews, which we broadcast in partnership with The Seva Group (latest edition below).
Giving back
Giving back to the community and the industry has been an integral part of our ethos over the past 15 years. We’ve been proud to support many of the industry’s great charitable drives, from the Alpha Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Fund (launched in 2004) to Hand in Hand for Haiti (launched in 2010, which became travel retail’s biggest single fund-raising project).
Cleft palate charity Smile Train has been a particular beneficiary, both from our first charity dinner back in 2007 and with a variety of other fundraising activities since.
In 2017 we launched The Moodie Davitt Report EGB Cancer Research Fellowship, a five-year, US$225,000 commitment to cancer research in association with London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, honouring loved ones of our own team who have been lost to the disease.
In 2015 we began another new chapter. Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie took back full control of The Moodie Report parent company, Moodie International Ltd, after a brief period under outside control due to his own battle with stomach cancer in 2010 and 2011. The following year The Moodie Report was rebranded as The Moodie Davitt Report, reflecting Dermot Davitt’s vital contribution to the company and the changes to the ownership of parent company Moodie International.
After 20 years, we continue to grow. In March 2022 The Moodie Davitt Report website achieved an all-time monthly web traffic high of over one million page views. We have since consistently hit that figure, underlining our status as travel retail’s key B2B influencer, driven by the quality and regularity of content, with seven-day coverage of our sector produced across multiple time zones. The table below illustrates the surging readership growth over the past years (2022 to date).
We aim to reinforce our market leadership with continued innovation, deepening our highly focused China strategy and with our successful drive into new regional markets (led by Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, India and Indonesia, all aided by the quality and unrivalled industry knowledge and relationships of our team.
Thank you for being with us on the journey so far as The Moodie Davitt Report turns 20. We hope you enjoy the soon to be published special 20th anniversary edition of The Moodie Davitt eZine, which charts the biggest stories, interviews, videos and images from our years of covering the travel retail industry. Here’s to the next 20 years.
The Moodie Davitt Report team
