Britain’s airports face scrutiny about how they sell alcohol, and may be obliged to seal duty-free bags, as the Government seeks to reduce incidents of drink-fuelled air rage. The new aviation minister, Lord Ahmad, has announced he will examine the way alcohol is sold at airports amid a spate of incidents on planes involving drunk passengers.

Flight bookings booming for the Rio Olympics

• With just one month to go before the Olympic Games open, flight bookings to Rio are booming, according to ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analyzing 14 million reservation transactions each day.

• The peak arrival date for Olympic fans is 4 August, the day before the opening ceremony, but a significant number will start to arrive earlier, from 27 July.

• When compared with the same dates last year, forward flight bookings are ahead 148% between 27 July to the Olympic closing day on 21 August. Flight bookings for the Paralympics, which run from 1-18 September, are also strong, up 23%.

• Forward bookings show 24% of travellers are staying for 9-13 nights and 23% for 6-8 nights, between 27 July and 18 September. For those visitors staying 22 or more nights, 70% will arrive before 2 August, to soak up the full Olympic experience.

Download our report here: http://www.forwardkeys.com/revenue-management/article/olympicsandparalympics2016.html

According to the latest data from ForwardKeys, flight bookings to the affected areas as a whole have fallen by -3.4% since 15 January compared to the figures for the previous year, and by -10% in early February after the WHO’s announcement. Areas affected by the virus are Central and Latin America - with Brazil being hardest hit - and the Caribbean.

ForwardKeys analysis shows that tourist destinations such as Guadeloupe (-21%), Martinique (-24%), Puerto Rico (--22%) and the US Virgin Islands (-27%), have been hardest hit and long-haul origin markets most affected.

Looking ahead, to the months up to May, the data shows a more optimistic picture, with some destinations, notably Brazil (+25%), Colombia (+29%) and Guyana (+40%), showing encouraging signs with forward bookings running well ahead of the same time last year, most likely as a consequence of the airlines Iberia, LAN and VivaColombia all substantially increasing route capacity.

Click on the image to read our memo.

Brands want loyal customers, while Consumers are considering more brands and switching providers more frequently than ever before.

Rethinking of what loyalty really means in a digital age should be based on:

1. Loyalty needs to be reciprocal.

2. Loyalty is about emotion first, behavior second.

3. Go for gratitude and loyalty will follow.

In Milan, at Loreto metro station, the first 200 meter long visual space has arrived in Italy with over 1,000 products of the best mass distribution brands, which can be ordered simply by scanning the products with a mobile phone, thanks to Carrefour Italia.

After the positive results of the trial phase, Carrefour Italia, in collaboration with Risparmio Super, has launched www.cliccaeritira.it the first online shopping service via the web or mobile, making it possible to go shopping online at any time and plan a collection from the store or home delivery.

The creation of a display space like that of Loreto is a means of communicating to the customer that digital is breaking through traditional shopping patterns and even the most physical of spaces, like the sales outlet, can be dematerialized while guaranteeing the same level of service.

The China National Tourism Administration has predicted that the number of Chinese heading abroad during the holiday break will reach 5.19 million, a 10 percent year-on-year increase, driven by a stronger Yuan, favourable visa policies, increased wealth and demand for quality leisure time.

Spring Festival this year also marked the first time that outbound tourists had outnumbered those travelling at home, with 60 percent of Chinese tourists spending the holiday in foreign destinations.

Falling sales of luxury European brands in China due to the anti-corruption campaign contrasts with the lavish spending by Chinese tourists abroad. These tourists now account for 40 percent of luxury goods sales in France, 35 percent of such sales in Italy and 25 percent of luxury sales in Britain.

In Paris, 80 percent of Chinese tourists' spending was devoted to shopping.

Paolo de Cesare, chief executive officer of Parisian luxury department store Printemps, said: "In the 1970s, we had shoppers from the United States. In the '80s and '90s we had Japanese and in the early 2000s we had Russians. But for the past six or seven years, Chinese have been the main tourists shopping at Printemps". Forty percent of the company's sales comes from overseas visitors, who account for only 20 percent of its customers. Chinese customers make up 50 percent of those from overseas.

Aisle person value freedom, are an introvert, are all business, like to be in the power position and tend to be a bit claustrophobic...

Window person value privacy, are a nester, are a dreamer and are open to new experiences...

Middle seat person are an extrovert, are highly evolved, are considerate, are low man on the totem pole and are disorganized...

Business class person are a control freak, value their time, are a little pretentious and are rich!

The iPad era is wreaking havoc in airlines’ seat-back pockets.

With fliers no longer always required to turn off phones and tablets during takeoff and landing, they’re glued to electronic devices for longer than ever, leaving little downtime for leafing through a magazine.

Whatever the format, the magazines are a way to connect with passengers and build an airline’s brand -- and the advertising revenue helps, too.

The challenge is to make the publications attractive and entertaining enough that passengers will actually open them.

Sephora has announced the adoption of Apple Pay for all Bay Area stores, starting today. It will also be in the Lexington store in Manhattan.

Over 70 percent of Sephora’s in-store customers are also iPhone owners, according to internal company research.

Sephora plans to test the market in the two major tech metropolises, but says it will roll out Apple Pay in stores nationwide in the very near future.