The Moodie Davitt eZine: A tale of two CEOs

INTERNATIONAL. Welcome to The Moodie Davitt eZine – Travel Retail’s Lookbook. As both the retail and luxury landscapes shift, the pressure is on companies to find new opportunities among the commercial storms. Both Ray Hernan, CEO of travel retailer Aer Rianta International (ARI), and Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of luxury lifestyle brand Montblanc, have grand visions for the future – and share their perspectives in this issue.

Before being appointed as ARI CEO in 2018, Hernan worked with some of the most prestigious domestic retailers in the UK and Ireland. At one of his first major speeches to a travel retail audience, at the recent MEADFA Conference in Oman, Hernan shared his early impressions of travel retail and discussed how the industry matches up to the domestic market. We present the full address, with edited highlights of an insightful question and answer session.

Click to read Issue 273 of The Moodie Davitt eZine

And in a compelling interview, Montblanc’s Baretzki discusses the company’s ‘business-lifestyle’ positioning, his ‘best-in-class’ approach to product categories, and the importance of travel retail as a strategic platform. He also explains why innovation remains at the heart of Montblanc, and how he is uniting the brand’s carefully defined product categories under one umbrella.

Elsewhere in this issue, we investigate an innovative alcoholic beverage dispenser system – called Smart Spirits – that offers unlimited flavoured spirits using capsules, with adjustable alcohol strength per pour. Could this system gain traction with travel retailers, airports or airlines?

The rest of issue 273 looks like this:

  • Travel retail highlights: Our regular look at the industry’s best new launches, activations and openings.
  • Sense of Place: We see how Dublin Airport has become a “true flagship for Irish design” after the opening of an innovative new store.
  • Duty Calls: Ever Rich staff collected 11,000kg of waste in a superb 150-day environmental campaign – which was also a hit on social media.
  • The Front Line: We profile Colombian Emeralds International’s Ivette Robert, who always seeks to improve and become better at her job.
  • Stock Watch: As the end of 2019 draws near, we assess the performance of some of our biggest movers against previous years.

Please enjoy this edition of The Moodie Davitt eZine with our compliments.

Food & Beverage The Magazine eZine