Spotlight on China – The Moodie Davitt Magazine, February 2025

INTERNATIONAL. Welcome to this February 2025 edition of The Moodie Davitt Magazine, which leads with a focus on the China market, and carries Chinese translation of key highlights.

Weak consumer sentiment has placed acute pressure on retailers and brands across categories in the past 18 months. Against this backdrop the outlook from China Duty Free Group (CDFG) – China’s number one and the world’s number two travel retailer by sales according to The Moodie Davitt Report Top Travel Retailers guide – is instructive.

In its year-end results statement, parent company China Tourism Group Duty Free Corporation said that CDFG was “moving forward under pressure and against the trend”. That phrase sums up the impact of soft consumer spending and a slowdown in the Chinese economy on one hand, while suggesting room for positivity in the medium term on the other.

Complementing that story, we feature details of a recent Bain & Company report on China’s luxury market in 2024 and the outlook for 2025, plus the latest travel forecasts.

CDFG’s grand ambitions to expand overseas are the focus of another key feature in this edition. Martin Moodie paid a recent memorable visit to the cdf Sri Lanka Duty Free store in The Mall at Port City Colombo, and was highly impressed by what he saw.

In our Editor’s Choice section we put the spotlight on recent eye-catching events, campaigns and launches, notably in the Hainan offshore duty-free channel.

Among other stories we bring you an exclusive interview with Schiphol Group and Lagardère Travel Retail on their Amsterdam Airport Schiphol partnership, the progress of which is being watched closely by the industry community.

Please enjoy this edition with our compliments.