“Let’s plot a positive path forward”
DAY 1
At the start of The Trinity Forum, The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie offered an assessment of the current health of the Trinity partnership and its possible future direction.
Welcoming delegates to Qatar and commenting on the impressive hospitality of hosts Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways and Qatar Duty Free, Moodie said: “Most of you have entered Qatar over recent days through Hamad International Airport and noted its efficiency, its grandeur and its Sense of Place. You will also have noted that the airport is all dressed up in Trinity theming.
“What a welcome. When you depart you will note all those characteristics again, but you will also see more of its art, its architecture, its efficiency, its shopping, its dining, its stunning business lounges, its diverse facilities – everything from a squash court to a swimming pool – and its enduring sense of Arabic and Qatari hospitality.”
He continued: “Airports are extraordinary places, not just as physical infrastructure but for what they represent. I describe them often as crossroads of humanity. A crossroads that does not recognise colour, creed, cultural barriers, nor political differences. They are hubs not just of transportation but of emotion. I ask you what more joyous and spontaneous expression of love is there than the airport arrivals hall? They are expressions of place – via art, via food, via design, via products, via advertising, via the people that work in them and travel through them. Increasingly they are also centres of commerce on a grand scale.”
State of the industry: This spectacular Moodie Davitt video opened The Trinity Forum 2019, looking at key industry trends and themes that would be explored in Doha
Moodie talked of the stunning recent additions to the airport world such as Hamad International, Beijing Daxing, Istanbul and Jewel Changi and the potential for these sites as platforms for brands. “The only risk in describing Daxing is that you might run out of superlatives,” he said. “It is an astonishing testament to architectural genius; and a statement that airports can be beautiful as well as functional, soul-enriching while commercial and efficient.
“In such places does our industry do business. Daxing. Hamad International. The new Istanbul airport. Jewel Changi. And many more. We are not in run-down High Streets struggling for footfall in the face of the ecommerce onslaught. No wonder that the big brands are showcasing themselves as never before with profoundly ambitious offline to online promotions, pop-ups and installations in the world’s great airports. No wonder they have embraced airport advertising in the past two years more than ever before. The digital age has added immense reach, power and flexibility to the airport’s long-renowned status as a brand showcase.”
Airports especially thrive when they put the three Ps – platform, population and proposition – together, Moodie continued. However, he said there is a constant need for a fourth P: partnership. He asked delegates: “Since I introduced the term way back in 2003, the term Trinity has come to be synonymous with partnership. But how often is that concept of partnership truly delivered?
“During these two days we will hear of thrilling examples where it has been, but we’ll also hear observations about how and why it sometimes falls short. It’s a discussion and a debate that must continue. Let’s plot a positive path forward for a business sector that is superbly placed to benefit tremendously from the growth in air traffic for decades to come but only if it addresses the health of its own ecosystem,” he concluded.
Martin Moodie: “We are not in run-down High Streets struggling for footfall in the face of the ecommerce onslaught”
The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 271 | 19 November 2019
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 20 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd).
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