11 July

What a finish! No, not that of England substitute Ollie Watkins to snatch a 2-1 victory for his team over The Netherlands in last night’s semi-final, we’re talking about The Moodie Davitt Report Travel Retail Euro 2024 Tournament Predictor Competition’s thrilling climax, writes our football correspondent Mark Closely at BVB Stadion Dortmund.*

If you thought there were unbelievable scenes inside the Dortmund stadium, they were nothing compared to those inside living rooms and bars in Ontario, Paris and Enniskerry as three of our hitherto top four participants scored a perfect three points for their exact 2-1 prediction of the match.

Just how good is Ontario International Airport Chief Revenue Management Officer Elisa Grey at this football punditry stuff? Under intense pressure from the chasing pack, Elisa snapped up another hat-trick of points, her third consecutive perfect score. That is championship-winning form if you ever saw it.

Or is it? For across the Atlantic a Brummy accent-laden cry of delight rang loud into the Parisian night as the England sub’s perfect strike sent the Three Lions into the final vs Spain. “Yes! Get in there you good Aston Villa man!” exclaimed JCR Consulting Founder & Director and devoted West Bromwich Albion fan John Rimmer for the first and (bar similar events on Saturday) most certainly only time in his life.

Immediately he realised the significance of the goal. Yeah, OK, England was in the final but more importantly he would now surely top The Moodie Davitt Report Travel Retail Euro 2024 Tournament Predictor Competition leaderboard, right? 

Almost. Elisa’s sharpshooting brilliance has kept her in front by a single point, now with clear four-point daylight between first and fourth, meaning she is guaranteed one of our top prizes. In fact, Elisa will finish first or second as third-placed Max Geoghegan – or Maximum as The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney International Market Manager is now known following his precise 2-1 England prediction – can only tie her on total points and would trail due to fewer number of correct scores predicted as per our rules below.

So the equation for victory becomes simple. Well, make that complex. Devilishly so.

If Elisa scores another maximum she wins our tournament. If she gets no points or just one and John picks up a maximum, he triumphs. If Elisa scores no points and John one, they will be tied at the top (possibly joined by Max) so it will come down to number of correct scores. In which case, Elisa wins.

Conclusion? John needs to take all three points and hope Elisa’s result goes his way.

Can he hold his nerve, Harry Kane-style, and hope Elisa’s shot is saved? Will Elisa put the result out of doubt by scoring yet another hat-trick? All will be revealed on Sunday.

Three other players remain with a chance of snatching a prize – Haribo Travel Retail Senior Manager Sales Cyril Goavec (another to pick the correct 2-1 scoreline yesterday); Kenzo Mode Wholesale & Travel Retail Director APAC Lucas Torres, who collected a single point; and our very own Dermot Davitt, President of The Moodie Davitt Report, who also picked the winner but not the scoreline.

Get your predictions in now for Sunday’s final.

• Spain v England

The Moodie Davitt Report partners Denizen Destination, Duty Free Global, Go Travel, Haribo, Gebr. Heinemann, Mast-Jägermeister and Qatar Duty Free are generously sponsoring the competition.

The following prize monies will be awarded to the winning entrants’ chosen charities (together with a write-up on each cause):

• 1^st – €1,000
• 2^nd – €500
• 3^rd – €300

Winners will also receive Denizen Destination bracelets of the country of their choice kindly donated by the high-quality brand house.

*The Moodie Davitt Report is the sole travel retail media title reporting on location from Germany. Mark Closely is joined by experienced football correspondents Inga Land, Betty Savezit, Gül Keepa, Amos Wynmatch, Claire Fowell, Mia Stryker, Ace Winger, Myles Offside, Parker Thebus, Hedda Ball, Constant Diver, Paul Damstring and Conor Flagg.

10 July

Ontario International Airport Chief Revenue Management Officer Elisa Grey is all alone in front as The Moodie Davitt Report Travel Retail Euro 2024 Tournament Predictor Competition builds to a thrilling conclusion, writes our football correspondent Amos Wynmatch at Fußball Arena München.*

Elisa, a top-class footballer in earlier years and part of the amazing airport team who hosted The Moodie Davitt Report’s FAB Conference & Awards in late June (where she declared firmly she was in this competition to win, according to ultra-reliable sources), scored her second consecutive three-pointer after correctly picking Spain to beat France 2-1. See the impact of that precise punditry on our league table below.

Elisa has come on particularly strong as our competition has entered the closing stages, selecting all winners correctly over the past five matches, three of them with the precise score to move to an impressive 51 points. Wouldn’t you want her in charge of your revenue management?

But to say Elisa faces hot competition over the final two matches (The Netherlands vs England today with the winner playing Spain in Sunday’s final) is an understatement. Our long-time leader, JCR Consulting Founder & Director John Rimmer, is just one point behind on 50, lurking with intent like a West Bromwich Albion striker desperate to poach a goal that will win his side the FA Cup (well you can dream, right?). 

John baggied one point for correctly choosing a Spanish victory but his 1-0 scoreline saw Elisa nutmeg him to take the lead.

Does proud Englishman John go with his heart or head in predicting today’s potentially epic semi-final between The Netherlands and his homeland? He’s a canny pundit and the men in orange are on fire. Could he, should he, call it to the Dutch side? Nether say nether.

Not such good news yesterday for our other front-runners, Kenzo Mode Wholesale & Travel Retail Director APAC Lucas Torres (who daringly opted for a 3-0 win to France) and The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney International Market Manager Max Geoghegan (1-0 to France), meaning both fall three points behind our leader on 48 points but still within a Stefan de Vrij or Harry Kane strike of the lead going into the final. Don’t bet against the young Geoghegan scoring a couple of maxes before the contest is over.

And remember, there are prizes for first, second and third and still a tasty six points to play for.

The Moodie Davitt Report President Dermot Davitt made a big move into solus fifth place with a correct Spain 2 – France 1 prediction, his second consecutive maximum, to lie one point back on 47. He couldn’t go on and win his own tournament, could he? Such bad form.

No-one could accuse his business partner Martin Moodie, who is in a much more self-effacing 157th place, of such lack of decorum. After running as cold as a mid-winter Christchurch night to collect five consecutive zero-pointers, Martin picked up a maximum three yesterday. But despite vainly attempting to add a point for predicting the All Blacks comfortable one-point victory over England in the rugby international last Saturday, his ship has long sailed into the Aotearoa sunset.

Dermot is joined by Revlon/Elizabeth Arden/American Crew Senior Director Travel Retail Frank Andreassen, who has been on our leaderboard since early on in the competition; Haribo Travel Retail Senior Manager Sales Cyril Goavec (likewise); and Avolta Global Supply Chain Master Data Office Head Dani Petkova.

The battle for second and third prizes is every bit as hot as that for ultimate champion. Watch out for Cherrie Chan, Regional Area Director, Travel Retail for LVMH-owned beauty brand fresh. Cherrie has scored an impressive six points from the last two matches, Spain vs France and The Netherlands vs Türkiye.

Remember, if there is a tie on total points at the end of our contest, the places will be decided as follows:

1. Number of Correct Scores
2. Number of Correct Results
3. Competition Winning Team Prediction

Get your predictions in now for the remaining semi-final today:

• The Netherlands v England

The Moodie Davitt Report partners Denizen Destination, Duty Free Global, Go Travel, Haribo, Gebr. Heinemann, Mast-Jägermeister and Qatar Duty Free are generously sponsoring the competition.

The following prize monies will be awarded to the winning entrants’ chosen charities (together with a write-up on each cause):

• 1^st – €1,000
• 2^nd – €500
• 3^rd – €300

Winners will also receive Denizen Destination bracelets of the country of their choice kindly donated by the high-quality brand house.

*The Moodie Davitt Report is the sole travel retail media title reporting on location from Germany. Amos Wynmatch is joined by experienced football correspondents Inga Land, Betty Savezit, Gül Keepa, Claire Fowell, Mia Stryker, Ace Winger, Myles Offside, Mark Closely, Parker Thebus, Hedda Ball, Constant Diver, Paul Damstring and Conor Flagg.

7 July

Just one point covers the first four players in The Moodie Davitt Report Travel Retail Euro 2024 Tournament Predictor Competition leaderboard, writes our football correspondent Inga Land at Düsseldorf Arena.*

Following the last of the quarter-finals (England beat Switzerland on penalties following a 0-0 scoreline after extra time and The Netherlands overcame Türkiye 2-1), JCR Consulting Founder & Director John Rimmer leads by a solitary point from Ontario International Airport Chief Revenue Management Officer Elisa Grey, Kenzo Mode Wholesale & Travel Retail Director APAC Lucas Torres and International Market Manager at Irish whiskey company The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney Max Geoghegan.

John showed Bukayo Saka-like confidence to precisely predict the England result (i.e. 1-1 at the end of extra time) for a maximum three-pointer but came away empty handed from The Netherlands v Türkiye after also plumping for a draw. 

Elisa scored a hat-trick of points for her perfect prediction of The Netherlands v Türkiye scoreline and a further one point on England’s victory to put her within Stefan de Vrij striking distance of our leader. The same applied to Lucas, who after a terrible start to the competition has been at or near the top of the leaderboard since 22 June. Can he maintain his form over the final three matches?

Irishman Max has run hot over recent matches, after being in a lowly 43rd place on 22 June. Like Elisa and Lucas, he picked up four points overall yesterday, accurately picking The Netherlands v Türkiye score (a Max-imum three points) and snapping another point for selecting England to win.

With a maximum nine points left to play for, it seems our winner is likely to come from the top six participants, a high-class group also including Haribo Travel Retail Senior Manager Sales Cyril Goavec and Avolta Global Supply Chain Master Data Office Head Dani Petkova.

Remember, if there is a tie on total points at the end of our contest, the places will be decided as follows:

1. Number of Correct Scores
2. Number of Correct Results
3. Competition Winning Team Prediction

Interestingly, Parfums Christian Dior Account Developer – Travel Retail Europe David Chantepy has the most correct scores (10) but he has fared less well on other matches and with 42 points (15th place), he is probably too far back to make our top three.

Get your predictions in now for the semi-finals on Tuesday and Wednesday:

• Spain v France
• The Netherlands v England

The Moodie Davitt Report partners Denizen Destination, Duty Free Global, Go Travel, Haribo, Gebr. Heinemann, Mast-Jägermeister and Qatar Duty Free are generously sponsoring the competition.

The following prize monies will be awarded to the winning entrants’ chosen charities (together with a write-up on each cause):

• 1^st – €1,000
• 2^nd – €500
• 3^rd – €300

Winners will also receive Denizen Destination bracelets of the country of their choice kindly donated by the high-quality brand house.

*The Moodie Davitt Report is the sole travel retail media title reporting on location from Germany. Inga Land is joined by experienced football correspondents Betty Savezit, Gül Keepa, Claire Fowell, Amos Wynmatch, Mia Stryker, Ace Winger, Myles Offside, Mark Closely, Parker Thebus, Hedda Ball, Constant Diver, Paul Damstring and Conor Flagg.

Look out for their match reports as the tournament continues.

6 July

If you thought the Spain v Germany  quarter-final (2-1 to Spain courtesy of a 119th minute Mikel Merino goal) was a thriller, it’s nothing compared to the titanic contest at the top of The Moodie Davitt Report Travel Retail Euro 2024 Tournament Predictor Competition leaderboard, writes our football correspondent Betty Savezit at Stuttgart Arena.*

Following the first two quarter-finals (France beat Portugal on penalties after the match finished 0-0 after extra time), two of our long-time front-runners – Haribo Travel Retail Senior Manager Sales Cyril Goavec and JCR Consulting Founder & Director John Rimmer – are locked together on 46 points.

Both picked up four points out of a possible six with each correctly predicting the precise Spain v Germany scoreline for a maximum three-pointer, while netting another one for selecting France to triumph over Portugal.

But with a maximum 15 points still on offer and just seven points covering the top 19 players, our two leaders will need to maintain their sharpshooting form to stay ahead of a bunched pack in hot pursuit.

Ontario International Airport Chief Revenue Management Officer Elisa Grey, a top-class footballer in earlier years and part of the wonderful airport team who hosted The Moodie Davitt Report’s FAB Conference & Awards late last month, also netted a hat-trick of points for the Spain v Germany match. A further one-pointer on France v Portugal sees Elisa lurking dangerously just two points behind our leader.

She is joined by Kenzo Mode Wholesale & Travel Retail Director APAC Lucas Torres, who picked up a point on each match.

And while there is a Barry and a Geoghegan in our top ten, neither is Duty Free Global Founder & Commercial Director Barry Geoghegan (currently in a tie for 106th). No, the Geoghegan is Barry’s son Max Geoghegan, who has quietly moved up the leaderboard over recent matches and kept up his good form with four points yesterday. And the Barry is industry veteran, Barry Galloway, Commercial Director at Essence of Harrogate, who is in equal ninth place, just five points back from our leaders.

Get your predictions in now for the quarter-finals on Saturday:

• England v Switzerland
• The Netherlands v Türkiye

The Moodie Davitt Report partners Denizen Destination, Duty Free Global, Go Travel, Haribo, Gebr. Heinemann, Mast-Jägermeister and Qatar Duty Free are generously sponsoring the competition.

The following prize monies will be awarded to the winning entrants’ chosen charities (together with a write-up on each cause):

• 1^st – €1,000
• 2^nd – €500
• 3^rd – €300

Winners will also receive Denizen Destination bracelets of the country of their choice kindly donated by the high-quality brand house.

*The Moodie Davitt Report is the sole travel retail media title reporting on location from Germany. Betty Savezit is joined by experienced football correspondents Gül Keepa, Claire Fowell, Amos Wynmatch, Mia Stryker, Ace Winger, Myles Offside, Mark Closely, Parker Thebus, Hedda Ball, Constant Diver, Paul Damstring and Conor Flagg.

Look out for their match reports as the tournament continues.