Miscellaneous

🏆 Kushal Walia brings 10 years of full-funnel marketing experience, including eight in travel and hospitality, to his data-first approach to branding, consumer insights, and storytelling. He earned the ET Shark Award for Best B2B Marketing Campaign and was named among the Most Admired Brand Leaders at the World Brand Congress. His work on State of Distribution reflects his focus on research-led, insight-driven marketing.

🍪 The website stores cookie information in visitors’ browsers to recognize returning users and help its team understand which sections visitors find most interesting and useful. These cookies support a better user experience. The provided text contains no dates, locations, numbers or statistics.

🍫 Italy’s Tommaso Grollero won World Chocolate Master 2026 on 27 October at Antwerp’s Handelsbeurs, after 15 regional champions competed over two days. Organised by Callebaut, the final featured four “Play & Taste” challenges. Grollero also earned Best Taste and Best Design, impressing judges with flavour, precision and creativity. China’s Lyu Haoran took silver, plus Best Bonbon and Best Share; Japan’s Keita Koshimizu won bronze. The competition began in 2005.

🚗 Qatar’s visitor numbers are recovering as road traffic across the Saudi border increases, while air arrivals continue to fall. However, drive-in visitors tend to stay for shorter periods, limiting the benefits for Qatar’s hotels.

🍪 LinkedIn and third parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve services, and display relevant ads, including professional and job ads, on and off LinkedIn. Users can accept or reject non-essential cookies and update their choices anytime in settings.

🍪 The website stores cookies in visitors’ browsers to recognise returning users and help its team understand which sections visitors find most interesting and useful. It says these cookies help provide the best possible user experience.

🍸 Wallpaper*’s December 2026 Entertaining Issue launches 5 November in print, on its Apple iOS app and through Apple News+. Highlights include Florence Knight’s Lunette restaurant atop London’s riverside St Clement hotel, co-developed by Mark Wadhwa and Nick Jones; revivals of legendary Paris nightclubs; three private homes; Japanese confectionery; Jaime Hayon’s one-of-a-kind football table; and 2027 design horoscopes. The issue also profiles the inaugural Fendi Design Prize winner.