Aldeasa s great global showcase at Madrid Barajas T4

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1 MARCH/APRIL 06 TRAVEL RETAIL INTELLIGENCE Aldeasa s great global showcase at Madrid Barajas T4 FREE DVD Thought Leadership, supported by Nestlé International Travel Retail Where the ocean meets the sky: Vancouver International Airport LAX prepares for wave of tenders Nuance re-capitalised and re-energised: the inside story Why Macau is no gamble for DFS KERRIE MATHER ON COPENHAGEN AKBAR AL BAKER S SIX-STAR VISION

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4 FROM THE EDITOR March/April 2006 EDITOR S DESK Welcome to The Moodie Report. In this issue we focus on two of the industry s leading players the Nuance Group and Aldeasa both at very different stages of their respective evolutionary cycles. The Moodie Report gained a unique insight into both companies thinking recently. In Nuance s case it centered on the retailer s first ever Global Vendors Conference; with Aldeasa it was the unveiling of the Spanish company s fine new retail offer at Madrid Barajas Airport s new Terminal Four. We ve written a lot about Nuance over the past two years, and much of it cannot have made easy reading for the Swiss retailer s management team. One only has to view the recent trading results of co-parent company Stefanel to see that the corner Nuance keeps promising to turn is a long time in coming. It is hard to think of any other industry where the two leading players are loss-makers (DFS was until very recently). Perhaps that says much about our industry, its rules of engagement and the external forces it has to cope with. But that s no consolation or excuse to shareholders who rightly expect a return on investment, or at least the prospect of one. At January s Global Vendors Conference, President and CEO Roberto Graziani pledged that Nuance was both recapitalised and re-energised and that its shareholders, GECOS/Gruppo PAM and Stefanel, were in it for the long term. With his trademark honesty Graziani admitted the company s failings and weaknesses of the past, pledged a much improved performance in critical areas such as MIS and staff training and committed the group to improved relationships with vendors and landlords. But gone was the overtly defensive message of recent times Nuance vowed to win, not retain, Sydney; to push hard into China and India; and to advance the cause of key categories. You can t fault Graziani s intentions or his transparency. But for all his talk of not wanting to pay less but to pay better, he is confronted by the brutal reality that several of his rivals are in aggressive, expansionist mood. He knows the company could neither defend nor win businesses without a more stable and well-funded foundation. Now he appears to have it, but equally he simply must deliver. The next 12 months will be the most critical in the group s rollercoaster history. Aldeasa has new ownership Altadis and Autogrill and no shortage of capital. It faces challenges at home with the prospect though not certainty of its non-madrid airport contracts being tendered, and therefore must expand abroad. It is clearly prepared to pay for that progress neither Kuwait nor Vancouver came cheap but that won t be enough. It knows it must also up its game qualitatively and at Barajas T4 it played the biggest hand in the company s history. Perhaps the most telling moment of our recent visit to the new terminal was when National Commercial Sales Manager Lorenzo de Benito turned to me just before we parted and asked with a smile, Surprised?. He knew the answer. Barajas T4 is very much about the new Aldeasa, a marker that has been laid down for airport authorities worldwide to see. Not only will we bid high, we ll do it well is the message. It s a powerful one and with the Madrid opening, allied to the Vancouver and Kuwait tender victories, Aldeasa has become a much-enhanced global proposition. Meanwhile, as we went to press it seemed that a bid for BAA was imminent. Our money remains on Macquarie making an offer and what a tantalising travel retail scenario that would entail. In retail terms Macquarie is currently aligned to Nuance (Sydney and Copenhagen, though both are up for bid, and Bristol); Alpha (in Birmingham and Rome) and Dufry (Rome). But of course if it acquired BAA, it would also gain World Duty Free and potentially Global Airport Services. Which way would it then turn in terms of running its retail operations? Fascinating times indeed. Martin Moodie, Editor and Publisher We are proud to include with this issue an important industry film, Thought Leadership, produced and directed by Peter Marshall of Marshall Arts International, first shown at last September s Trinity Forum. We are distributing DVD copies to our entire readership thanks to the generosity of Nestlé International Travel Retail. 4 The Moodie Report

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7 March/April 2006 CONTENTS Inside The Moodie Report 11 4 Editor s Desk: A fast-changing industry landscape RFP wave for LAX: Get ready for a transformed commercial offer at Los Angeles International Airport 26 Where the ocean meets the sky: Vancouver s breathtaking vision for terminal expansion 40 Nuance s new thinking: An unprecedented insight into the strategy of the world s leading airport retailer To Merge is the Smart way forward: A fascinating interview with leading travel retail design and consultancy company SmartDesign 76 Y mucho más: How Aldeasa is offering much more at Madrid Barajas magnificent new T Duty free s complex passage to India: Hui Min Neo reports from the first India Duty Free Workshop 100 Macau magic: DFS Group is moving into a casino heartland, but its new Galleria is no gamble Copenhagen concession approaches: Macquarie Airports CEO Kerrie Mather tells The Moodie Report about a great Danish opportunity The Moodie Report 7

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9 March/April 2006 CONTENTS 1 2 THE MOODIE REPORT VOLUME 4 ISSUE Editor & Publisher Martin Moodie martin@themoodiereport.com Chief Operating Officer Bob Wilby bob.wilby@themoodiereport.com 3 Associate Editor Rebecca Mann rebecca.mann@themoodiereport.com 4 4 Online Editor Salina Christmas salina.christmas@themoodiereport.com 5 5 Brands Editor Mary Jane Pittilla maryjanepittilla@btinternet.com Asia Editor Hui Min Neo huimin.neo@gmail.com 7 Asia Correspondent Anna Fenton anna.fenton@themoodiereport.com The good, the bad and the ugly: We assess a diverse line-up of travel retail websites 121 Akbar Al Baker s six-star vision: How the Qatar Airways CEO has proved his critics wrong 126 New licences drive Luxottica: The eyewear giant is gearing up its business in the Americas 130 Travel retail causes: This issue s charitable cause comes from Emirates, as the dynamic Dubai carrier puts Montblanc s ultimate watch at the heart of a great initiative 132 Lunch with This edition s guest is John Sankey, Chairman of UK distributor Cecil Macdonald & Co. John has spent 50 years in the business but is going stronger than ever. 136 Partners Index: The companies that help us to maintain our Fast, Factual, Free service 138 The 2005 AETRA Awards: The airports that were rated the world s best by the judges who matter the most the passengers 8 Staff Reporter Soharni Tennekoon Soharni.Tennekoon@TheMoodieReport.com 9 Production Editor Jon Elphick jon.elphick@gmail.com 10 Designer Ray Heath ray@rayheathdesign.co.uk 11 Commercial Director Mandy Shine mandy.shine@themoodiereport.com 12 Advertising Development Director Claire Wates claire.wates@themoodiereport.com 13 Web Development Director Dilantha Fernando dilantha@revomobile.com The Moodie Report is published by Moodie International Ltd and is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Moodie International Limited Boston House, 69 Boston Manor Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9JJ, UK The Moodie Report 9