Welcome to This Week in Travel Retail, The Moodie Davitt Report’s new weekly round-up of how our industry is portrayed in the world’s consumer and social media. We present tall tales and true – from the quirky and the sensational to the investigative – in a revealing alternative look at a global business sector.
Tender opportunity dries up: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and state government of Jammu and Kashmir have given into pressure from “netizens, religious organisations and separatists” to withdraw a tender for a liquor shop at Srinagar International Airport. An AAI spokesman told The Hindu: “It is observed through the media and social media that a section of society is against having a duty free liquor shop at the airport. Honouring local sentiments, the AAI has decided to cancel the tender process.”
River of humanity: Renowned Texan sculptor, poet and visual artist James Surls is taking his art to an unconventional place – the TRG Duty Free store at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Surls has exhibited in places such as Washington DC’s Smithsonian and the MOMA, Guggenheim and Whitney museums in New York, but he is not averse to taking his sculptures to unusual venues. Duty free shops are “high-dollar enterprises”, up there with some of those prestigious locations, according to Surls. International Terminal D at Dallas-Fort Worth serves 13 million passengers annually, ensuring Surls’s artwork will be showcased to a “river of humanity”, he told Aspen Public Radio. The TRG Duty Free store is set to open in February 2018. See above video developed in November last year by Cooksey Communications.
A serious case of vibration paranoia: Never is a strong word. Especially when it comes to wine. UK tabloid The Sun published a story stating travellers should “NEVER” buy wine from duty free because air travel can ruin the taste. According to an “international wine consultant” the vibrations of the plane can seriously alter the flavour of wine. This ‘expert’ clearly has a case of vibration paranoia – a very serious affliction according to Vinfolio. Yes, wine can be affected by vibrations according to sediment theory, but it happens over time. Even ‘bottle shock’, the notion that excessive shaking during transport can alter the taste of wine, is actually said to be a result of vigorous, machine-driven bottling methods. So there you have it – whether it’s that zingy Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc you tried on holiday or that extra-special Barolo you picked up on the way back from a business trip, a bumpy flight is NOT going to ruin the flavour of that drop – just pack it securely!
TLC (teddy loving care): First we had the tale of a young East Midlands Airport passenger who was reunited with her cuddly friend Bob the Beaver. Now comes the story from UK newspaper Metro of a teddy bear who flew 200 miles to be with the four-year-old girl who lost him at Edinburgh Airport. Loganair cabin crew member Kirsty Walter spotted a Facebook post from Summer’s mother describing how Teddy the bear had been lost – with the airport suspecting he had been too busy taking advantage of duty free to notice his flight time. Walter tracked down the furry friend and ensured he flew in style on his own seat to Kirkwall in Scotland, where he was returned to Summer. But not before enjoying a tour of the cockpit and a Tunnock’s caramel wafer as Teddy was shown lots of TLC (teddy loving care).
Images: @FlyLoganair
Rocking the boat: The Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce has lamented the opening of a duty free shop in the British Overseas Territory’s Cruise Liner terminal. Chamber President Christian Hernandez told GBC Television the opening had been “extremely damaging” for small businesses. Although it might be good news for the duty free store, Hernandez believes the retail sector as a whole is in decline in Gibraltar and in need of greater government assistance.
Video: GBC News
