Licensing Blog

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Dubai and Christmas drinks(Posted: 05-01-2009)

Tourism in the sun; Advanstar pays for the drinks (again!); and what does 2009 hold in store?

The turkey and mince pies have all been eaten. Well almost, I did put some turkey in the freezer for a future curry. As I’ve been a bit slack with my reports over the last 3 months, maybe now we are into 2009 it’s a good time to reflect on the last quarter.

After all the follow-ups from Brand Licensing, I joined the small contingent of UK based licensing glitterati who jetted off to Dubai to the inaugural Dubai Character Fair. Considering the limited catchment area, the numbers of (quite decent) visitors was not too shabby at all. Dubai itself was heavily promoted at the show, but I suppose this had to be expected with the amount of government money that had been put behind it. The mix of local and western cultures and dress was interesting, although the lack of alcohol in a local bistro after an afternoon of sight-seeing was almost a disaster. The 90 degree plus heat from the open top of a tourist bus was slightly draining! Once you could see past the building sites and cranes there was a lot to keep your interest, although as usual, the fly-in, fly-out nature of our business doesn’t really leave enough time to have a proper look around these places. The scale of the projects under way is immense, and they are really cranking up the tourist aspect. Maybe the oil really is running out!

The iconic 7 star Burj al-Arab hotel is quite a sight, although I’m glad I didn’t have time to visit as an un-named business acquaintance felt the need to pop in and had to pay £177 for a buffet lunch with wine! As I always say – if you want to look big, you’ve got to pay for it.

The 7 Star Burj al-Arab Jumeirah Beach - no sex please!!

Many thanks to my old friend Shaun Ollier from Lammtara Pictures for his hospitality. His local knowledge of the best haunts was invaluable, even if it meant that I left my hotel on the last morning at 4.30 to go directly to the airport having not had the smallest glimpse of a bed.

After more trips than usual in 2008, it was good to spend the last 2 months of the year in the office getting stuck into putting the 2009 Guide together. I’m pleased to say we’ve had an even better than usual response to this, and that the credit crunch seems to be largely by-passing mainstream licensing. It meant that I could afford to buy Christmas presents!

The last social of the year for me was the drinks party hosted in London by our friends at Advanstar UK for Brand Licensing. We met old friends, made a few new ones, met some new Brand Licensing staff, and a few known ones who’d had a couple too many! The highlight had to be Christmas lunch on a stick – turkey, stuffing, roast potato, carrot, then finished off with a sprout all on a wooden skewer – class!

Despite the current economic climate, I’m getting good vibes about the licensing industry for 2009. Sure, it’s going to be hard in some sectors. But we are in essence all part of a multi-national business, that operates on a pretty solid foundation. Every little bit that each of us does can help generate something for some-one else working another cog in our international wheel. Let’s all be positive and keep the wheel turning.

I’m already looking forward to seeing you at an event of some description at some time soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!