Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
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What goes ‘pin-pon-pin, pin-pon-pin’ and can be heard all across Paris?
No it’s not the start of a children’s riddle but a reference to the familiar screech of police car dual-sound sirens as the city ratchets up security during the Olympic Games.
After the massive travel disruption caused by Friday’s coordinated arson attacks on France’s rail networks, that well-justified presence has been intensified. But well into the first week of the Olympics, it’s a case of so far, so very, very good. As testified by last year’s Rugby World Cup, the French sure know how to put on an opening ceremony and a magnificent sporting tournament.
In fact apart from the sound of sirens (didn’t Simon & Garfunkel write a song called that?), the central city streets feel unusually quiet.
Many Parisians have left town on holiday, lots of tourists are out at the various sporting events and plenty other potential international visitors have been scared off by Olympics-related high hotel prices. I am staying at the excellent 4-star Hôtel Le Monna Lisa (yes, the spelling is correct) in Rue La Boétie (a great choice if you have central Paris business meetings) and it is much quieter than had been anticipated.
Last night I was the guest of L’Oréal Travel Retail President Emmanuel Goulin at the Olympics swimming, a welcome opportunity to watch world-class athletes but also to mix with world-class travel retailers, including DFS, JATCo, Lagardère Travel Retail and Duty Free Americas.
I also took the chance for a more detailed catch-up with Emmanuel for his first major interview with the travel retail media since he assumed the role at the beginning of the year.
Look out for some really astute analyis of the channel from a seasoned and much-respected executive who always sees the glass half-full and who believes the current softness in some key markets is a challenge to be embraced not feared.
The French beauty powerhouse continues to do an outstanding job in the channel despite challenging conditions across multiple markets, many affected by much-reduced Chinese spending and a flood of cheap product in China’s domestic market. But the group’s diversity of geography, product range and price points, allied to a critical shared domestic + travel retail perspective of the China opportunity sees it particularly well-placed for sustained growth.
Due to my own China base, i.e. Hong Kong, I don’t get to see Lagardère Travel Retail Chairman and CEO Dag Rasmussen very often, but yesterday I caught up with him twice in one day, once at the Olympics and earlier, over breakfast, for a wonderfully engaging, multi-topic conversation. You can read the results of that encounter too in coming weeks and as always, I can promise you that when Dag talks, people listen (or in this case, read).
This quietly spoken but admirably insightful and erudite executive has been one of travel retail’s most influential individuals over recent years.
He, more than any other, has both believed in and driven the convergence of airport commercial sectors – notably retail and food & beverage. As manifested in its recent H1 results, Lagardère Travel Retail’s ‘triple axis’ of duty free & fashion, travel essentials and food services sees the company, like L’Oréal, well-placed and well-balanced in a travel retail world facing a complex cocktail of market challenges and opportunities.
Tonight I’ll get the chance to see some aspects of that triple axis as I fly out of Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2E. Next stop, after my brief but packed northern visit to England, Wales and France, is Hong Kong. Home, sweet home. ✈