INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Davitt Report today unveils a new enterprise charged with driving the company’s diversification through a portfolio of Virtual Expos dedicated to both trade and consumer audiences.

The Moodie Davitt Virtual Expo Company stemmed from an internal programme called Project Aoraki, designed to explore new opportunities in the face of revenues (though neither demand nor traffic) being hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Aoraki (3,754 metres or 12,360 feet above sea level) is the highest mountain in The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie’s homeland of New Zealand. In the Maori language the name means ‘Piercing through clouds’, perfect symbolism for an initiative designed to scale new heights and break through the dark clouds of COVID-19.

The Moodie Davitt Virtual Expo Company builds on the successful launch of the inaugural Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo to be held in October. That pioneering event features three key platforms – the Knowledge Hub, the Exhibition Hub and the Experience Hub.

It has attracted hugely encouraging support from the travel retail community. China Duty Free Group last week became the first Diamond Partner (with another to be announced this week) while Shiseido Travel Retail, Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail and Beam Suntory are the inaugural Platinum Partners revealed to date.

Further confirmed Platinum, Gold and Silver Partners will be named in coming days.

The subsequent events to be launched across Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 are:

  • Wellbeing World Virtual Expo – a consumer and trade event dedicated to the burgeoning world of wellbeing products & services, from spas and leisure to food and drink; from nutraceuticals to traditional Chinese medicine; all related to themes of physical and mental health.

  • Beauty Inclusive Virtual Expo – another consumer and trade first, covering the diverse world of beauty products and services from fragrance to makeup and skincare; from professional products to haircare.

  • World of Spirits Virtual Expo – from whisk(e)y to Cognac; Armagnac to Aquavit; Gin to Grappa; and much more besides. Once more targeted at both consumer and trade audiences.
  • Followed by a rolling programme of new and established Expos and Symposiums throughout 2021.

To underpin this ambitious roll-out, The Moodie Davitt Report has struck a partnership with Singapore headquartered integrated retail design, marketing, and communications agency FILTR for future Virtual Expos. FILTR, a best-in-class company across all aspects of retail design and brand communication, will provide individual account management for every exhibitors’ Virtual Stand & Experience, curating all Expo environments, installations, and activations to the highest order.

The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said: “This is a landmark day in our company’s 18-year history as we mark our rapid evolution from a pure play travel retail publisher, research and events company into a diversified virtual and physical events enterprise, supported by a growing business and consumer research arm, and of course our core publishing activities, both within (and in months to come) outside travel retail.

“It is our intention to be the world’s premier company in the Virtual Expo space, hosting a series of high-class global or regional Expos for trade and consumer audiences; as well as category- and company-specific events and symposiums.

Climbing Mount Difficulty and Piercing through Clouds

The provenance of the mountain and the symbolism the name evokes brought to mind another New Zealand mountain that I first mentioned in this Blog way back in 2010, shortly after I had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. The mountain also gave its name to a nearby winery. It was called Mount Difficulty.

Read more from The Moodie Blog, including a video announcement by Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie.

“We’re very excited to have FILTR join us on this journey. Their work on the Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo has been extraordinary, helping us take the initial concept of a Virtual Expo in under two months to a high-class yet easily navigable suite of environments, formats, and experiences.

“Despite the constraints of COVID-19 lockdown, they have worked day and night with us to overcome every obstacle, and to create a fantastically premium experience befitting the image of our industry. The joint knowledge we have gained together will prove priceless as we set out on our next hugely exciting development phase.”

FILTR Co-Founder and Managing Director Alex Cook said: “FILTR embarked on the virtual Expo journey with The Moodie Davitt Report as a necessary redefinition of our business in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

“We quickly discovered genuine and widespread appetite for virtual platforms, which are the perfect application of FILTR’s integrated design, digital, marketing and communications skillsets.

“Working with the Moodie Davitt Virtual Expo Company on a broader range of virtual expos will underpin our long-term growth within and beyond the travel retail channel.”

(Above and below) Strength in depth, strength in numbers and strength in complementary skill-sets. The Moodie Davitt and FILTR teams have forged a collective expertise in just two months that will underpin a new growth period for both companies.

Adele Wolstenhulme named World Wellbeing Expo Director

Adele Wolstenhulme: “Never has there been a more critical time to be health-empowered as people, and wellbeing-focused as companies”

Each of the new Expos will have a Project Director, working alongside the Moodie Davitt and FILTR teams. On World Wellbeing, The Moodie Davitt Report has appointed Adele Wolstenhulme, a practising clinical Psycho-neuro-immunologist, nutrition consultant and metabolic balance coach as Wellbeing Director.

Adele is regularly consulted by professional bodies and associations to run international and UK-based exhibitions and practitioner training events, and to consult on the development of ‘food as medicine’ menus. Partners have included The Institute for Functional Medicine, the Alliance for Natural Health International and The British Association of Applied Nutrition & Nutritional Therapy.

Adele, who consulted for The Moodie Davitt Report in 2018, worked as Editor in Chief of Travel Retailer International at Euromoney from 1997 to 2007, where she was also Director of Events and Senior Vice President Business Development, RFH Consumer Insight. She has worked with the BBC and Sky Sports and in 1994 won the Barnett Janner Travel Scholarship in Politics to work as a reporter in post-apartheid South Africa.

She said: “I feel honoured to have been asked by Martin to lead the innovative inaugural Wellbeing World Virtual Expo. This is truly groundbreaking, and for me personally bridges the gap between my early career experience in aviation and international travel retail, and the past 16 years as a consultant and qualified practitioner in health & wellbeing and functional & lifestyle medicine, respectively.

“I’ve always believed that health is a birthright. But it’s clear we’re simply not designed to cope with the ‘weird’ environment we are now living in, as seen through the lens of human evolution. As if the chronic disease burden we’ve been grappling with for the past few decades wasn’t enough – throw in a global pandemic and healthcare systems around the world are visibly buckling under the strain. Never has there been a more critical time to be health-empowered as people, and wellbeing-focused as companies.”

“Besides her expertise and network within the wellbeing space, Adele is a dynamic individual with a tremendous ability to identify and realise new business opportunities,” said Martin Moodie. “I worked with her closely for several years at Euromoney. She is driven, passionate and offers a rare mix of ethics, entrepreneurialism and commercial pragmatism.”

Further associates to the company’s forthcoming events will be named soon.

For any enquiries please contact Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com