The fact that growth in retail revenues is outstripping that of gaming revenues in Las Vegas bodes well for the retail industry in Macau

This issue marks the twentieth anniversary of DFNI, and its 437th issue. Below, we look at some of the stories that dominated the pages of its historic first issue in February 1987

Have you ever had the feeling that someone is watching you?

Earlier this month a thin layer of snow gave the UK’s transport network the minimal excuse it needed to grind to a halt

DFNI reports on the inaugural Asia/Pacific Travel Partnership Symposium, held at the Wynn Signature Resort in Macau last month

One of the world’s largest brand owners encapsulated the conference theme on day two of the symposium with a thought-provoking view of how it is approaching partnerships beyond its traditional confines

Horizon Research Corp president and CEO Ian Cesa presented highlights of 1,400 interviews conducted with Chinese travellers at Beijing, Seoul Incheon, Bangkok Don Muang, Singapore Changi and Hong Kong International airports

While Macau’s tourism growth has been fuelled by the development of gambling resorts, retail revenues will become an integral part of tourism spend

DFS Group managing director North Asia David Charles drew on lessons learned in establishing the retailer’s much-praised Okinawa Galleria to explain the obstacles DFS faced and how partnerships with the government and brands had helped to overcome them

The Hugo Boss Kart Race offered a break from cooperation to indulge in some friendly competition

Absolutely nothing—but it does stimulate growth in the military duty-free market. Emily Pacey talks to Middle Eastern and international diplomatic and military suppliers about business opportunities in the troubled region

Old World wines may be losing their popularity in many domestic markets, but they still enjoy surprisingly good visibility in duty-free, despite complaints from retailers about old-fashioned packaging and marketing. Joe Bates investigates

Sofia Airport expects retail revenues to fall after Bulgaria joined the EU on January 1, but retail space in the new terminal two should help to recoup some of its intra-EU duty-free losses

As another French luxury group reports strong sales in 2006, DFNI suggests that 2007 will be a crucial year for the group’s travel-retail business

The liquor business is on the retreat at many duty-free locations worldwide but not at Kyiv Duty Free, where it continues to go from strength to strength. Joe Bates talks to retail operations manager Domnick O’Reilly

Liquor is a cornerstone of the duty-free market at Inflight Service’s new stores in Estonia, Latvia and Poland. General manager travel shops Janusz Grabowski tells Joe Bates how the company is improving the category in each location

EU membership has cast a long dark cloud over the once thriving duty-free liquor business on the borders of Bulgaria and Romania. As border operators struggle to survive in the chaotic aftermath of accession, Joe Bates reveals that suppliers will inevitably turn their attention to the domestic market

The Inflight Sales Person of the Year awards provided a glamorous end to a week of intense training for flight crews. Lorna Strickland reports from the best ISPY event yet

SINGAPORE. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) was set to reveal financial bids for the highly sought-after liquor and tobacco tender at Singapore Changi airport’s three existing terminals and its new terminal three, as DFNI went to press

INDIA. The race to win retail rights at India’s two private airports intensified this month

US/HONG KONG. Airline retail concessionaire Inflight Sales Group (ISG) has made a bold—and rare—statement of faith in a US carrier

INDIA. The joint venture between The Nuance Group and local partner Shoppers’ Stop will continue to seek opportunities in India after securing the domestic and international retail contracts at Bangalore International airport, according to The Nuance Group executive vice-president business development Carlo Bernasconi

SAUDI ARABIA. Bidders in the duty-free tender at three Saudi Arabian airports are competing for a 10-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, DFNI can reveal

US. A trial scheme enabling airport hotel guests to shop at post-security stores at Detroit Metro (DTW) and Dallas Fort Worth airports is a success and should be rolled out to other appropriate locations, according to DTW

PAKISTAN. After five months of wrangling with incumbent operator Suki Duty Free, a new operator is set to open its doors at Islamabad and Peshawar airports. UK-based Zainab Duty Free will open departures and arrivals duty-free stores at the two airports this month, and promises to raise retailing standards to international levels

HONG KONG. Airport Authority Hong Kong’s (AAHK) presence in the mainland Chinese aviation market will be bolstered this month when it fully opens Hong Kong International airport’s (HKIA) terminal two and SkyPlaza

LATVIA. Riga International airport’s new 186sq m (2,000sq ft) of duty-free space is an attractive prize for potential bidders

PANAMA. Motta Internacional and Grupo Wisa have successfully lobbied the Panamanian government to ease conditions stipulated in the tender for retail at Panama City International airport, making it more plausible for local retailers to submit bids

INTERNATIONAL. A concerted effort by the global duty-free industry has helped drive awareness of aviation security during the past month, with successes in several regions including Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.

Raven Fox is delighted to announce that Italian luxury fashion supplier Brunello Cucinelli has taken premier sponsorship at this year’s Raven Fox Awards for Travel Retail Excellence in Asia/Pacific

More news from Raven Fox

Chivas Brothers has put the London provenance of Beefeater gin at the heart of its new repositioning strategy for the former Allied Domecq brand, which remains the second best-selling gin in duty-free

Marketing consultant Protégé International is appealing against last year’s decision by the US Patent and Trademark Office to turn down its application to register its Wild Geese Rare Irish Whiskey brand in the US market

Wine sales at Dubai Duty Free (DDF) rose by nearly 40% last year to $9.5m, outperforming the retailer’s liquor business, DFNI can reveal

Russian Standard vodka enjoyed strong duty-free sales growth in Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS countries last year and is now looking to expand distribution in the West

Piper-Heidsieck, duty-free’s second best-selling champagne, has adopted a more selective approach to the inflight pouring market

World Duty Free (WDF) has expanded the wine assortment at its London Heathrow shops by one-third since fine wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd closed its four stores at the airport last year.

Kazakh operator Orient Eagle Duty Free is losing market share in its liquor and wines business to other product categories

Leading diplomatic retailers across Europe are independently adopting new pricing strategies in an attempt to halt price erosion in the tobacco category

The European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) has warned that a renewed focus on the duty-free industry in the light of recent security changes could cast the spotlight on tobacco sales once more

Scandinavian Tobacco, the owner of House of Prince and Henri Wintermans, has acquired US cigar company CAO International

New York-based luxury tobacconist Nat Sherman has appointed US distributor Alfa Brands to distribute its cigars and cigarettes on the US duty-free and travel-retail market

Dutch cigar supplier Henri Wintermans has unveiled new packaging for its Café Crème range which it hopes will draw a younger group of adult smokers to the world’s best-selling small cigar brand

British-American Tobacco International has unveiled three limited-edition blends for its Dunhill range of cigarettes to mark the brand’s centenary

State-owned monopoly Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp (TTL) is to expand its business in the Chinese duty-free market after gaining approval to set up offices in Shanghai and Beijing.

Aer Rianta International (ARI) has opened a new 230sq m (2,480sq ft) Runway Beauty store on the second level of the terminal building at Moscow Domodedovo airport, directly after passport control and security.

Hamila Duty Free, which operates diplomatic, seaport, ferry and airline concessions, is to demonstrate its commitment to growing fragrance sales this year by reducing its dependence on liquor and cigarettes, which accounted for 80% of sales in 2005

Parfums Christian Dior is to stop producing travel-retail exclusive fragrances this year

The gate delivery system introduced at Amsterdam Schiphol airport after the security crisis of August 10 2006 has resulted in the loss of half of beauty concessionaire Kappé International’s potential business from US passengers

Two acquisitions in the beauty industry, by Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Falic Fashion Group respectively, have set the pace for consolidation this year

Luxury skincare brand La Prairie is encouraging its beauty advisers to adopt a fresh approach to selling at its new flagship location at Hong Kong International airport (HKIA)

Kyiv Duty Free is to expand its skincare range after the beauty sector recorded strong growth in 2006

P&G’s move into the skincare sector with the acquisition of Doctor’s Dermatologic Formula skincare (DDF) was described by one industry source as “another example of the rich getting richer”

Confectionery outperformed all other product categories for Belgian Sky Shops (BSS) at Brussels International airport last year, increasing market share from 17.9% in 2005 to 18.5%

It is strange but true. One of the latest websites offering advice on fitness and nutrition comes from The Jelly Belly Candy Co

Belgian chocolate specialist Guylian has reported a big increase in Latin American sales for the first six months (July to January) of its fiscal year due to the lifting of restrictions relating to the dioxin scares that were particularly damaging for Belgian dairy products

Alpha Retail has unveiled its eighth World News Café, at Edinburgh airport’s new £19m ($37.4m) terminal extension

The Gift Voucher Shop plans to enter travel-retail after it became Aer Lingus’s preferred partner for its cabin crew incentive scheme

Gifts, toys and accessories supplier Scorpio Distributors has launched a website that enables visitors to view all its products

San Francisco International airport has launched a tender for its airside electronics concession, which covers five stores and a total of 4,800sq ft (446sq m)

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has launched a tender for watch concessions at Singapore Changi airport terminal three

Cross-channel ferry operator Norfolkline plans to add new jewellery and watch brands in 2007 as part of a renewed focus on the category following the launch of three new passenger vessels on the Dover to Dunkirk route. At present the ferry line has only a few skus available on board

A new supplier and in-house distributor has been established to handle the Guess timepiece brand in duty-free

High-end jeweller Tiffany & Co is to open a 1,600sq ft (149sq m) boutique at Singapore Changi airport terminal two in April

Following Alpha Airports Group’s seven-year retail contract extension at East Midlands airport, the UK retailer has confirmed that sunglasses will be one of the key categories driving revenues

Atlanta-based airport retailer The Paradies Shops is set to open fashion stores at Jacksonville International airport for the first time, after it gained a 10-year extension to its retail contract last month

US-based Duty Free Golf Brands has become the exclusive distributor for Bally Golf apparel and other branded products worldwide (excluding South Korea), following the signing of a new agreement in January

Sunglasses supplier Maui Jim is seeking to grow its business in the Asia/Pacific travel-retail market with a new collection, due to be launched in May