22 years old and going strong – The Moodie Davitt Report celebrates another landmark

INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Davitt Report today celebrates our 22nd anniversary.

Our story began on 16 September 2002, when a new title in travel retail publishing – The Moodie Report – was unveiled via a simple six-page, black and white pdf report, produced initially in cooperation with Generation Group of Sweden.

The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said: “I am proud and humbled to reach another landmark in what has been an extraordinarily fulfilling journey. Along with my business partner Dermot Davitt and our outstanding team, we thank the travel retail community for their readership, support and goodwill.

“We pledge to continue to support the industry through fast, accurate information; championing excellence and challenging what is not; and a constant refining of the service we provide.

“Innovation and positive disruption has always been in our DNA and I am pleased to reveal we will be unveiling two major initiatives in the run-up to TFWA World Exhibition and The Trinity Forum.

“Today we celebrate a landmark but also embark on what promises to be an equally enriching next stage of our journey.”

From its first day, The Moodie Report (The Moodie Davitt Report since 2015) adopted (and has retained) a radically different publishing model to its rivals. It rejected the traditional high subscription fee base that had hitherto dominated travel retail publishing and instead made its information available to all on a complimentary basis under what became a familiar ‘Fast, Factual, Free’ tagline. Unrivalled market penetration allied to high-quality content was the constant mantra.

The first edition [written by Martin Moodie] pledged to change the traditional media formula and to focus not only on key business developments but also the industry drivers that underpinned them. The word ‘Report’ was carefully chosen to represent the voice of this new information service.

Some six months after the launch of The Moodie Report pdf, the brand was extended to include a website (informally dubbed ‘The website that never sleeps’, thanks to an unrelenting focus on keeping it updated throughout each day and night that still characterises the service today) and an eNewsletter – another industry first.

In October 2003 the first print edition was launched and in another pioneering move was extended to a dual print/digital format in October 2007. It was an immediate critical and commercial success and is now a runaway leader in advertising and reputational terms.

The digital title provides readers anywhere/anytime access to current and back issues. It enhances the user experience through multi-media and a variety of viewing options, as well as allowing search capabilities of all articles, advertisements and images.

As an organisation we have continued to invest heavily in innovative digital media, which today features videos, podcasts, the popular Moodie Blog, and a recently launched premium film division called Moodie Davitt STUDIO.

We will be revealing two further key launches before TFWA World Exhibition (29 September – 3 October).

As with the pdf’s launch in 2002 and the website’s introduction in 2003, The Moodie Report eZine’s debut in late 2011 changed the face of travel retail publishing. The eZine features regular insight into the industry’s biggest developments, presented via a unique multimedia platform, with interactive content throughout.

In 2003 we conceived The Trinity Forum, which has become the world’s most influential travel retail and airport commercial revenues conference (now a partnership with ACI and ACI-Asia Pacific & Middle East) and has consistently sought to advance industry standards and challenge accepted norms.

In 2011, The Moodie Report launched its second successful event, The Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards, which has become a beacon for that burgeoning industry sector.

In 2015 we began another new chapter. Founder and Chairman Martin Moodie took back full control of The Moodie Report parent company, Moodie International, after a brief period under outside control due to his own battle with stomach cancer in 2010 and 2011. The following year The Moodie Report was rebranded as The Moodie Davitt Report, reflecting Dermot Davitt’s vital contribution to the company and the changes to the ownership of parent company Moodie International.

Continued innovation 

With the industry coming to a standstill in early 2020 due to COVID-19, we took our innovation drive to new heights, creating a series of digital events, led by the hugely successful Virtual Travel Retail Expo, which later won a Frontier Award (for Best Collaboration with agency WePurple), following up the event in 2021.

In 2021, we created an awards programme to recognise the contribution of front line and back of house staff across the industry, from retail to dining. The Travel Retail Superstars and FAB Superstars Awards resonated across the sector.

We maintained our spirit of positive disruption in other ways too, developing the acclaimed Spotlight series of eZines dedicated to key industry events, anniversaries, launches and campaigns.

We have also led with new audio and video projects. Complementing our regular podcasts is our TRI-POD series of video interviews, which we broadcast in partnership with The Seva Group. 

Giving back

Giving back to the community and the industry has been an integral part of our ethos over the past 22 years. We’ve been proud to support many of the industry’s great charitable drives, from the Alpha Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Fund (launched in 2004) to Hand in Hand for Haiti (launched in 2010, which became travel retail’s biggest single fund-raising project).

Cleft palate charity Smile Train has been a particular beneficiary, both from our first charity dinner back in 2007 and with a variety of other fundraising activities since.

In 2017 we launched The Moodie Davitt Report EGB Cancer Research Fellowship, a five-year, US$225,000 commitment to cancer research in association with London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, honouring loved ones of our own team who have been lost to the disease.

Thank you for your readership and support on the journey so far as The Moodie Davitt Report turns 22.

The Moodie Davitt Report team. ✈