The Moodie Report s. Travel Retail 2006/07

2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z January 2007 The Moodie Report s Travel Retail 2006/07 A Alpha: The most turbulent year in the retailerto-catering company s history, with a suspension from the stock exchange and the departure of both Chief Executive and Finance Director. But by yearend, under new CEO Peter Williams, the company had stabilised and ended 2006 in style by winning the Delhi International Airport duty free contract in partnership with Pantaloon, ahead of hot international competition. AENA: When will one of the industry s most anticipated and certainly most overdue retail tenders take place for the Spanish airport shops (other than Madrid) currently run by Aldeasa? Or will there even be a tender? As Dufry waits in the wings to make its anticipated challenge in Aldeasa s heartland, Spanish airports authority AENA is playing its cards close to its chest. Arrivals shopping: Oslo set the European precedent, and Switzerland is set to pick up the baton. Copenhagen is exploring the concept and others around the world notably Dubai Duty Free and Australian airports are looking at ways to extend it. In a security-obsessed age that is hurting duty free in general, Arrivals shopping stands, perversely, to be a major beneficiary. B Bangalore: Emblematic of India s fast-modernising, fast-privatising airport sector, Bangalore International Airport s conducting of the recent retail and food & beverage tenders was exemplary. Not surprisingly it attracted a world-class line-up, and the management can be well pleased with its appointees The Nuance Group with Shoppers Stop, and HMSHost. BAA and break-up: The UK Office of Fair Trading s recent referral of BAA to the Competition Commission almost certainly means the divestment of one or more airports from the Ferrovial-led company s portfolio. Gatwick (or Stansted) and the Scottish airports are the likeliest bets. An intriguing side issue from any divestment is the future of the duty free contracts (all held by World Duty Free) at any acquired property. Beirut: There is currently only one flight a day but it is being serviced by the duty free operation. With those words Walid Saleh, Managing Director of Phoenicia Trading the joint-venture partner with Aer Rianta International Middle East in Beirut Duty Free announced on 17 August that the retailer was back in business after the country s short but brutal conflict with Israel. Remarkably the business has bounced back and is running ahead of last year s sales; but huge question marks remain over Beirut s political future. C Copenhagen was the big duty free tender of the year in European travel retail and it attracted a suitably high-calibre field. The bookmaker s favourite, Gebr Heinemann, took the honours, adding further mass to the German company s regional stronghold first created by the winning of the Norwegian tender in 2004. Copenhagen Airports commercial supremo Henrik Busch s highly transparent, information-led and creative tender was a role model of its kind. Cathay Pacific Airways: The sheer dynamism of the Hong Kong carrier is well reflected in its marvellous 84 The Moodie Report

January 2007 2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z online offer a deserved winner of The Moodie Report s first-ever Travel Retail Website of the Year. Communication: In too many instances this industry would get an E rather than a C (let alone an A ) for communication. Better intra-industry communication and, more critically, an improved consumer effort are critical if the business is not to be permanently undermined by that other perennial C of recent months confusion. How many times, for example, do we see landside posters and leaflets outlining the 100ml liquids limit on what can be cleared through security, with no mention at all that duty free items of all sizes can be purchased once passengers are airside? D Dubai Duty Free: Could the amazing UAE airport retailer crack the US$700 million sales barrier in 2006, up from US$590 million in 2005? The answer, despite myriad security-related constraints, was an emphatic yes. And with a new concourse, warehouse and logistics centre coming on stream this year, Colm McLoughlin s team has its sights set on US$1 billion by 2009. The probability is growing by the minute. DFASS: Unquestionably 2006 was the breakthrough year for Benny Klepach s Miami-based company, which has diversified successfully both by channel and by region in recent times. This year saw DFASS pick up the Fort Lauderdale Airport contract as well as the important Delta Air Lines concession; but the really big one was the hotly contested tender for Singapore Airlines. In a single giant stride the win propelled DFASS into a new league and a new region. Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is a major new aviation consortium, backed by the government of Dubai, which plans to invest US$15 billion in the sector by 2015. Its Chairman is H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai s Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman of the Emirates Group. That s quite some pedigree. He said recently: Within ten years DAE will become an integral part of the global aerospace industry and a leading player. Would you bet against it? It s a classic case of watch this space or, in this case, watch this aerospace. Will 2007 be the year that duty free in Egypt really takes off? We think so. This year saw E some intriguing tenders in a market of huge potential that has been undermined to varying degrees down the years by terrorism and bureaucracy. Sharm el Sheikh Airport drew a remarkably strong field (and Bouncing back in Beirut: Phoenicia Trading s Walid Saleh celebrates the re-opening of Beirut Duty Free Capturing Copenhagen: Gebr Heinemann won Europe s duty free tender of the year at the Danish gateway Upward curve: Dubai Duty Free has US$1 billion in sales firmly in its sights Duty free dawn: Could 2007 be the year that the trade in Egypt begins to fulfil its potential? The Moodie Report 85

January 2007 2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z commensurately strong bids) given its size, with incumbent EgyptAir and Dufry finally sharing the spoils. The Cairo T3 tender had a remarkable denouement at the last minute the bid was called off and the contract awarded to EgyptAir. Emirates: What an exuberant inflight operation that flying Scotsman John Sime runs. The airline deservedly won a Frontier award for Best Partnership Initiative with Montblanc (see M) and its remarkable December initiative with Traveller in offering a BMW 120i to the month s best-selling cabin crew saw Sime s and Emirates motivational powers move into top gear. Flying Scotsman: John Sime can take huge credit for a remarkable year at Emirates inflight sales division European Travel Retail Council: ETRC is the body now driving the global effort to adapt to the 6 November European Commission aviation security regulations. Perversely, though, much of its immediate attention is devoted to undoing the negative impacts on transit passengers (see T) of the original deal it agreed to. The reality of 6 November is that it could have been much, much worse without ETRC s intervention a ban on liquids over 90ml in size, for example. The group needs financial and moral support in equal measure in the difficult months ahead. F Spanish was (eventually) the loving tongue in the bitter fight for control of BAA as Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial outmuscled even the might of Goldman Sachs to take control of the UK airport operator. With a terrorism alert, an aviation security crisis and an Office of Fair Trading investigation within months of closing the deal the Spaniards must sometimes wonder what they have let themselves in for. The Falic family Simon, Leon and Jerome may not seek out the headlines, but they keep making them in impressive style. Their success with Duty Free Americas has surprised critics who pre-judged their ability to run a bona fide retail empire when they bought the company in a bargain deal from BAA. Just as interesting has been the company s successful plunge into brand ownership from luxury fashion house Christian Lacroix to Hard Candy. Until now Duty Free Americas has been an Americas-orientated retailer. Until now Frankfurt Airport: The year ended on a difficult note as Frankfurt s hub status meant it was cast as the bad guy in having to confiscate tonnes of duty free liquids from transit passengers (that should never have been sold to them in the first place at other locations). But otherwise 2006 was a banner year for an airport group that continually impressed with its ability to deliver bold F&B and retail statements, openings and promotions. Extra vigilant: The ETRC has secured the industry vital room for manoeuvre, but much works remains Buying BAA: A Ferrovial-led group triumphed in the year s major airports acquisition. Will a break-up follow? Shopping in style: It was a banner year for Frankfurt Airport, with a series of retail and F&B openings The Moodie Report 87

2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z January 2007 Fun: Where did that word go during 2006? For all the obvious reasons, far too many airports have become places to escape from rather than places that contribute anything positive to the travel experience. Security concerns are hardly the airports fault but more, much more, can be done to convince travellers that once they stumble out of security, belts done up, shoes back on, laptops back in bags, suntan lotion confiscated, that the worst really is over. Put up signs immediately post-security saying Your holiday starts here, meet and greet those harried travellers. Have some promotional offers promptly on hand, sample some drinks or chocolates. Drive that other crucial F, footfall, into the stores, not away from the whole airport experience. G Global Airport Services, one of the industry s most intriguing intellectual concepts with arguably one of its worst acronyms (GAS), dominated the headlines in 2005 after its set-up but was notably absent from them in 2006 as joint-venture partner BAA s attentions were diverted elsewhere. It was a case of the GAS being turned down and then off as the alliance with Crossbar Associates was quietly geared down; though we ll hear plenty more of the individuals who tied up with BAA Steve Franklin, Adrian Murray and Randy Emch. They all still have a big contribution to make to the business. GECAS: No, not a European Commission version of GAS, but an equally compelling new entrant into the airport investment scene. And this one has the ring of a powerful long-term contender, backed as it is by the might of General Electric. Ex-BAA and Macquarie Airports executive Marcus Balmforth is the man charged with driving the airport investments of the GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) unit. London City Airport is already under his belt; another London property isn t out of the question, and China and India will be other priorities. H What a year it has been for Gebr Heinemann a company so loyal to its Hanseatic roots and yet so dynamically progressive in areas of supply chain management and promotional initiatives, in particular. Copenhagen (see C) was a huge coup, as was the new nine-and-a-half-year contract at Germany s leading international airport, Frankfurt. Co-owner Gunnar Heinemann once said that the company made reliability the guiding principle of all that we do. That s true, but it s only part of one of travel retail s great success stories throw in absolute professionalism, a belief in partnership and long-term thinking and some good old family values and you begin to get the full picture. I Incheon International Airport, where the world s biggest duty free tender looms in early 2007. Currently four retailers (Lotte, DFS, KNTO and AK Duty Free) share the duty free cake. Will that number, and the names, stay the same? Lotte will be hard to budge after all its main Incheon fragrances & cosmetics store is the world s top travel retail beauty outlet and so will KNTO (trading as Duty Free Korea), because of the critical role its revenues play in developing the country s tourism infrastructure. But nothing is a given, and a perhaps unrivalled bidders line-up can be expected, including the incumbents, downtown rival Shilla and a host of big international names. The food & beverage tender too is up for grabs: expect high levels of interest there too. India: The country on so many travel retailers lips. A number of contracts will be determined in early 2007, which should see some interesting international and local names join the likes of Nuance, Shoppers Stop, HMSHost, Alpha and Pantaloon which were successful in the big contests that have been resolved so far in Bangalore and Delhi. J Japanese travellers: 2006 was a mixed year for outbound Japanese travel, with a soft Yen hurting Dollar-driven markets such as Hawaii; but business to China has rebounded from the political difficulties of 2005. According to Travel Journal International Online, an increasing number of consumers follow three key motivations cheap, nearby, short when planning their travel, helping to explain the rising popularity of Thailand (rebounding to prominence after 2004 s tsunami) and Vietnam. John Sutcliffe: What an influential figure the Irishman has been on Middle East and global duty free over the past two decades. His achievement in building Aer Rianta International Middle East s US$500 million retail empire in often difficult and never stable circumstances is one of the industry's great achievements. With Cyprus now on line, and the company pushing hard for a Saudi foothold, 2007 looks like being the best year yet. K King Power (Thailand): The astoundingly ambitious dual opening within just six weeks of the company s new Downtown Complex and its 88 The Moodie Report

January 2007 2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z all-embracing Suvarnabhumi Airport commercial offer (from duty free to destination merchandise, spa to specialist boutiques, food & beverage to foreign exchange), pushed the company into a new qualitative universe and gave Asia travel retail two fascinating retail propositions. Always the perfectionist, Chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn insists Suvarnabhumi should not be judged for at least a year until all the finishing touches are in place. Korea: With Incheon in the spotlight, Korean Air once again proving the world s best inflight retailer, Lotte (see L) riding high and the effervescent Sung-Joo Kim leading luxury house MCM s renaissance, it was a great year for Korea in travel retail. 2007 (see I for Incheon) may be even bigger. L Can Lotte Duty Free move from a one-market phenomenon to a truly international force? We think so. Watch markets such as Singapore and China, and don t count the company out of any of the big international tenders. It s a very good retailer indeed, and one that buoyed by the right international experience could become a truly pan-industry force. Backed by the largest IPO in retail history (for Lotte Shopping Company) it certainly lacks neither the finance nor the will. LAG: The year s big acronym, first struck by those great practitioners of abbreviation, the Australians, to describe liquids, aerosols and gels, the items at the heart of the post-10 August aviation security crackdown. It s a term that, unfortunately, is likely to remain a key part of industry vocabulary for some time to come. Liquor: What is the future of one of the great long-time staples of our industry? That s a fundamentally important question, not only to the category but to the business as a whole. Look at the support pouring into the ETRC lobbying fund from the liquor sector underlining just how much is on the line here. M Michael Mulyoowa: The man responsible for the single biggest duty free purchase of all time, from another M (Montblanc) a one of one limited-edition watch from the German luxury house. The Ugandan businessman spent US$250,000 on the timepiece, with all proceeds going to the Emirates Foundation to assist underprivileged children. What a great way to raise the average spend per passenger. Macao: It s game on for travel retail as China s great gambling boom continues. DFS is in there in a major way, Nuance-Watson is opening a specialist outlet and at least one other major industry name will unveil its presence in Point-of-sale pros: Gebr Heinemann proved again its supply chain and promotions expertise during 2006 Incheon interest: The world s biggest tender is sure to attract the cream of travel retailers to Seoul this year Lotte leverage: Can Korea s duty free phenomenon conquer markets beyond its home base in 2007? Record breaker: Montblanc s one of one watch, part of a charity drive with Emirates, fetched US$250,000 The Moodie Report 89

Duty Free Show of the Americas A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY IN A GLOBAL MARKETPLACE 2007 April 22 26, 2007 Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center Fort Lauderdale, Florida Don t miss this opportunity to gather with thousands of industry colleagues at the 2007 Duty Free Show of the Americas. Featuring hundreds of exhibitors displaying their newest products for the duty free market and a wide array of social activities, this exciting Show provides excellent opportunities to network and conduct business. More than 3,100 people attended last year s Show including 1,000 buyers from duty free stores worldwide, and we are looking forward to a great 2007 Show! Be sure to visit www.iaadfs.org for the latest Show information and to take advantage of our convenient online registration. International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores Phone: +1-202-367-1184 Fax: +1-202-429-5154 E-mail: iaadfs@iaadfs.org

January 2007 2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z coming weeks. But is too much top-end retail going in? Fortunes are going to be won and lost on the Cotai Strip and we re not just talking blackjack. Media: The biggest change in years within the trade media took place quietly in December as DFNI bowed to the electronic revolution and moved from its fortnightly print frequency in place since 1987 to become monthly. The Moodie Report went the other way, stepping up its print frequency to five per annum, the number we consider optimum in a web and e-news driven media age. Frontier changed hands again during the year and bolstered its USP, the Frontier Awards. Expect more change and consolidation. The winners will be those who differentiate and add value just like the market they cover. N Narita: 2006 was the year of Nakamise at the Tokyo gateway. The revamped T1 South Wing retail offer was dubbed big change by NAA Retailing and it was exactly that, transforming the look, appeal and success of a long-criticised retail offer. 2007 will see Fifth Avenue come to the airport not the real thing but a new duty free mall styled on the iconic New York street, with a range of big fashion brands blended with the traditional duty free categories. It should prove equally exciting. Bravo Narita for daring to be different. New-look Narita: The Narita Nakamise mall has transformed the look of the Tokyo airport s retail offer Sydney success: Nuance s retention of Australia s pivotal airport retail contract galvanised the group Nuance: The Nuance Group may have lost one of its glamour European locations, Copenhagen, but protracted historic losses there meant few tears were shed internally. Conversely the retention of Sydney, against all bookmakers odds a year earlier, seemed to galvanise the company both regionally and internationally. A big breakthrough followed in India, where Nuance s canny selection of local partner (Shoppers Stop) helped drive success in the Bangalore tender. O Olivier Charriaud: A change of style at the top of TFWA as the ex-rémy Cointreau executive took over from the DFS-bound Andrew Ford in October. Back to basics seems to be the welcome message to date for an association that remains best when it is organising trade shows and workshops and Charriaud will be keen to underline TFWA s pre-eminence at both. Online opportunity: While there are oases of excellence, too many airlines, airports and retailers fail to match their in-store offer with a similar standard of online presence. But 2006 s inaugural Travel Retail Website of the Year Awards, organised by The Moodie Report, identified a clear shift in thinking among airlines (especially), airports and some concessionaires as they realise the showcase and selling benefits. All change at TFWA: Where will new CEO Olivier Charriaud steer the association? Flying high: Cathay Pacific s duty free website scooped the Travel Retail Website of the Year Award The Moodie Report 91

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 11-13 MARCH 2007 The world s most ambitious airport commercial revenues conference Top representatives from the Trinity - airports, concessionaires, brands Featuring the presentation of ACI s Airport Service Quality (formerly AETRA) Awards For details please contact ACI s Andreas Schimm at aschimm@aci.aero or The Moodie Report s Martin Moodie at Martin@TheMoodieReport.com www.aci.aero www.themoodiereport.com

January 2007 2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z P Pasternak: As in Lois and Paul and their deservedly well-regarded Travel Markets Insider. Unlike so much of the trade media that specialise in imitation rather than innovation, the Florida-based husband-and-wife team know exactly what they want to deliver, and who they want to deliver it to. The result is a fine specialist medium for the Americas that deserves its mounting success. Piovesana: As in Alessandra, the tireless, passionate Managing Director of Nuance-Watson (Hong Kong), whose efforts were richly rewarded in 2006 when the retailer won the first Frontier Airport/Land-based Retailer of the Year to be conducted under the magazine s new (and much better) adjudication system, which involved an industry vote before a shortlist was put in front of the judges. Reward and recognition: Nuance-Watson (Hong Kong), led by the passion of Alessandra Piovesana, won the top Frontier Award for its airport retail excellence No award scoring system is flawless, but the general consensus was that this was one accolade that was truly deserved. From its main stores in beauty, fashion and consumer technology to specialist outlets such as Kiehl s, Nuance-Watson (HK) is a retailer which gets it right more often than most and whose Managing Director s name is synonymous with integrity. Q Queues: They follow security alerts like night follows day, and are one of the great deterrents to building store penetration. Heathrow T3 is a prime example and BAA CEO Stephen Nelson s recent big investment in improved manpower and facilities underlines his need to address the problem from a customer and revenue retention perspective fast. Qatar Airways: Is there no stopping the growth of Akbar Al Baker s aviation-to-retail success story? A pioneering new First and Business Class terminal, an outstanding new inflight catalogue and the phenomenal development of the airline itself suggests the answer is not for a long, long time. R Rome: One of the true retail turnarounds of the year came at Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) where a long-criticised retail offer at Fiumicino and Ciampino is being transformed dramatically into a marriage of fashion, style and shopping that such a great city deserves. ADR Executive Vice President Business Unit Commercial Andrea Belardini has taken a series of calculated risks and both he and Rome s retailers and passengers are reaping the rewards. Russia: Driven by surging oil and gas revenues, the country s booming economy is fuelling an unprecedented surge in outbound travel with spends to match. There is much impressive airport retail activity going on No end in sight: Airport queues became a firm fixture in the lives of air travellers in 2006 Non-stop growth: Qatar Airways is one of the world s great aviation-to-retail success stories Towering ambition: The retail offer at Rome s two airports has been transformed The Moodie Report 93

2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z January 2007 there too (St Petersburg Duty Free and Runway Duty Free at Domodedovo are comparatively unsung heroes of the business) and ever intensifying competition in the Moscow heartland. But the big recent win was Dufry s seven-year contract at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, where it will operate some 3,345sq m of retail space (across all product categories) in the new T1 expected to open this year. Dufry CEO Julián Diaz rightly describes it as one of the company s most important contract gains ever. S Sydney Airport was arguably the glamour tender of the year and, as mentioned, few would have initially wagered serious money on Nuance, the incumbent, carrying off the spoils. But it did not only because of an increased financial offer but almost as importantly through its strong Sydney-centric branding initiative, a creative pricing, customer service and promotions and marketing offer and, not least, the enormous commitment of another S, Nuance CEO Australia and New Zealand, Christian Strang. Can Nuance make money where for so long it complained of heavy losses? If the tourists return and the politicians and aviation regulators don t get in the way, yes. Sealed bags: Security was always likely to rear its ugly head as a key theme of 2006, but who would have thought finding the right sort of transparent, plastic bag would become a pressing industry concern? Alas that is the sad world we live in. Against a backdrop of plastic bags and security searches, how the industry manages to restore a sense of joy to airport retailing is, we believe, one of the great challenges of the new year. SSP: 2006 was a landmark year for the UK food & beverage specialist after the June divestment by former parent company Compass to private equity firm EQT. Now, in classic private equity mode, the emphasis is on course for rapid growth and Andrew Lynch s team has responded with a series of headline-grabbing contract gains or openings in airport locations as diverse as Oslo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Birmingham. There is plenty of expansion left on this corporate F&B menu. T Transit: A utilitarian word, but one with profound implications for travel retail in 2006 and 2007. The new rules are as simple as ABC, aren t they? Well, sort of. Airport A can sell duty free liquids of over 100ml and so can airports B and C. But travellers cannot take goods bought in A through B to C. So depending on the location of B and C, retailers in A shouldn t really sell the items in the first place. As we said, as simple as Trinity: Now an established part of industry parlance and one encouragingly used by more and more airport executives. A swift definition? Improved alignment of the respective interests of airports, concessionaires and brands (the Trinity ) to ensure a better offer to that crucial fourth party, the consumer. Never has the concept been more important. Terrorism: As fundamental to our industry s fortunes as training, promotion and concession fees. Few now doubt that the war on terror has made the world a much more unsafe place and, alas, our industry with it. U Understanding: What the politicians need desperately if they are not to kill off our industry: understanding of the critical role of airport commercial revenues; understanding of trading realities when passing knee-jerk legislation; and understanding that the world s travelling public should not be treated like cattle. Urioste: As in Enrique Urioste, the human dynamo who heads Argentinean travel retailer InterBaires. He s in big demand as a conference speaker these days (ASUTIL and MEDFA conferences in 2006, ACI Business & Trinity Forum in 2007), and that s because he practises what he preaches. Watch out for his biggest initiative to date in 2007 at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport. V Valiram: The well-regarded Malaysian luxury retailer snatched victory from DFS Group at the latter s Changi Terminal Two fashion stronghold in one of the surprise tender results of the year. But though Valiram may have been an outsider, it was no novice the company has extensive retail experience at Changi and in Malaysia and, more importantly, excellent luxury brand relationships through its domestic market operations. In late December it also announced the appointment of former DFS US Group President Julian Levy as Chief Operating Officer. Two coups in a matter of weeks. Vespucci: Abu Dhabi Duty Free invited travellers to take a voyage of discovery with the retailer s new owned brand, launched in 2006. It s a suitable tagline the brand was named after the great Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who discovered South America and 94 The Moodie Report

January 2007 2006 IN REVIEW A travel retail A Z we think many travellers will take the voyage, such is the investment and belief in the brand and the quality of it. Vancouver: It s just a few weeks until Spanish travel retailer Aldeasa takes up its duty free residence at Vancouver International Airport. Its main focus will be the much-anticipated opening of the new International Terminal. Big moments with much at stake for both airport and retailer get ready for something spectacular. W WIT: As in Women in Travel, the new group that aims to champion the interests, knowledge and skills of women in travel retail. Those who claim this industry has no glass ceiling are those who live above it, though not surprisingly on gender-related issues not everyone agrees with us. Won: The rise of the Korean Won against both the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen was one of the key influences in the Korean duty free business during 2006. But what the god of currencies giveth, he also taketh away. While the Won rose nearly +10% against the greenback in 2006, the Japanese Yen fell to a nine-year low of 782.64 Won per 100 Yen as the year closed: bad news for the Japanese spend and those retailers dependent on it. X Always the toughest letter to complete in this column, especially given the disappointing lack of a boom in xylophone sales. So we have to settle for X-rays, now an integral part of the travel experience. Will someone develop a fail-safe, financially viable method of identifying liquid explosives at airports in 2007? Y Yen: In this column two years ago the Japanese Yen stood at 105 to the US Dollar; a year ago the rate was 117. As we began 2007 it stood at around 118, well south of a mid-may appreciation to 110. Any retailer selling in US Dollars or linked currencies will be watching that relationship avidly this year. Z Zodiac: 2007 is the Chinese Year of the Pig. That may not seem a promising sign to Westerners, but the Pig of Chinese astrology is considered to be the most generous and honourable of creatures. Those born under the sign are perfectionists with impeccable manners and taste. They also delight in luxury, finery and riches. What finer symbol for travel retail. May 2007 be crisis free, and may pigs fly. Safety first: New security measures have made life tougher for airport retailers Buenos Aires benchmark: Enrique Urioste is making transparent gains at InterBaires Voyage of discovery: Abu Dhabi Duty Free s Vespucci brand sets sail in travel retail Vancouver spectacular: Aldeasa takes up duty free residence this year, pledging newness and excitement The Moodie Report 95