It will (not really) be lonely this Christmas

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

Office panTry to imagine
A house that’s not a home
Try to imagine
A Christmas all alone
That’s where I’ll be
Since you left me
My tears could melt the snow
What can I do without you?
I got no place, no place to go

It’ll be lonely this Christmas
Without you to hold
It’ll be lonely this Christmas
Lonely and cold
It’ll be cold, so cold
Without you to hold
This Christmas

Ok then, it’s not that lonely. But it’s certainly pretty quiet here at The Moodie Report HQ. The reporting team are all taking well-earned breaks, the ad and administration teams and the freelancers too. It’s just me holding the fort here, Dermot Davitt (even working on his wife Michelle’s birthday) in Galway and (on picture support) Dilantha Fernando down in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Office Xmas

Much of the world may have slowed or stopped for the Christmas break but the travel retail industry is working at frenetic pace as people fly home or away for the festive season and spend plenty of ding dong merrily on high in the process. The sounds of Christmas cash can be heard at points of sale all over the travel retail planet, not least in Dubai where Dubai Duty Free (pictured below), spurred by a -25% discount offer, posted sales of US$51.74 million over a three-day anniversary weekend, highlighted by its 31st birthday celebrations on 20 December.

Stop and think about that for a moment. US$51.74 million… over three days. That’s an awful lot of duty free. Now think back to 1984 when Dubai Duty Free generated annual sales of US$20 million. Two and a half times annual sales in 72 hours. Wow, wouldn’t you love to have created and built a business like that?

rsz_ddf_31

I’m sure we’ll be reporting some other spectacular Christmas feats over the coming days. Happily, I’ll be doing that from the warmth of home rather than in the bleak mid-winter of my office. If you feel my stories are becoming a little crumby, even some turkeys among them, perhaps some blanc spaces, well you’ll understand why. Happy Christmas to all those who celebrate it from me and all my great team at The Moodie Report. I’ll speak to you before the New Year.

P.S. Try to send me (Martin@TheMoodieReport.com) some pictures of travel retail at work (or play) this Christmas, I’ll publish the best in this Blog and award a special festive prize.