Airport Experience News Fall 2022

DIREC TOR’ S CHA IR

vision for the concessions program is all three of those master concessionaires are going to provide both food and beverage and retail. We’re planning to have obviously a mix of both national brands and a very local mix of flavors with all of the concessions in both food and beverage and retail. We’re going to have a very good Southwest Florida feel throughout our concession programs.

WARD: What will a third master concessionaire do? SIEGEL: The RFP that is out there right now is for a third master concessionaire, that’ll cover about 14,000 square feet of concession space that is primarily being built as part of Phase 1 Terminal Expansion. They’ll provide both food and beverage and retail, just as Paradies Lagardère and HMSHost will now, as part of their contracts, also provide food and beverage and retail. We’re going to have a lot of competition with all three companies at the end of the day. WARD: What’s your approach on the technology side, and what are you looking for from your concessionaires? SIEGEL : We’re obviously looking to incorporate as much of the latest technology we can, although with any technology that’s being incorporated, we want to make sure that we’re taking a hard look at our demographics, because obviously they’re different than a lot of markets. We’re asking our food and beverage and retail providers to make sure we’re providing not just the latest, but also the most user-friendly technology for our guests. In terms of the airport design, I’ve asked the design team to [suggest] a host of technology [options] that we are seeing in a lot of these newer facilities, so we can start taking a look at these technologies and seeing what is cost effective and what we might be able to incorporate into the design for our new facilities going forward. We want technology and innovation to be part of everything that we’re doing and touching going forward, we just need to make sure we do it in a very cost-effective way. WARD: Does your heavy skew toward older passengers impact your approach to technology? SIEGEL: Over time the demographics have gotten a little younger, but also the older generation is much more savvy with technology than they were 10, 15, or 20 years ago. I think our guests are able to deal with technology in a much different way than they were 10 years ago. Although the demographics might still be older than a lot of markets, the demographics have become a little younger, but they’re also much more savvy.

Below: Expansion is underway at Southwest Florida International Airport, both with an expansion and renovation of current terminal space and the planned addition of a new concourse.

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