Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2023

TRENDS & BEST PRACTICES Throughout Multiple Sessions, Industry Experts Shared Their Expertise With The AX Audience

BY SARAH BEL ING

Expanded technology, staffing, and new engagement strategies are in the works at OTG . Rick Blatstein, CEO, and Justin Blatstein, executive vice president, shared the AX Conference stage Monday morning to offer the audience a view into the company’s plans going forward. “When it comes to innovation, innovation isn’t radical — innovation is natural,” said Rick Blatstein of OTG’s commitment to assessing travel’s next wave of customer needs. “When we look to evolve, we should keep that in mind.

In our industry and in what we’re doing, the best is yet to come.” Both executives emphasized a ”bleisure” (business + leisure travel)-forward future where concessionaires adopt a f lexible space model and all-day eateries provide a unique experience from day to night - where customers that want to “get anything, anywhere” can do so without friction. At the forefront of this initiative is the spring rollout of OTG’s newest Starbucks integration where, beginning in April, airports with OTG-operated Starbucks will offer real-time mobile delivery anywhere in the facility, reducing lines during the morning travel rush, which Rick Blatstein called “the most anxious part of the travel day.” Other strategies included expanded technology to help customers order in their native language as well as pay with miles and vouchers, employing “ghost kitchens” to scale-up OTG’s volume capabilities, and prioritizing sustainability by installing more local vendors. “The closer you are to the source, the more sustainable it is,” said Justin Blatstein of the push to make airport concessions more reflective of their city’s offerings and give customers a personalized, hyperlocal experience. “Airports should be the doorstep to the community.”

Trends Mixer What do travelers look for in their airport experience? Where is the future of concessions, retail, and space design headed? Speakers at the AXN Conference Trends Mixer took industry leaders through some of their most exciting innovations in seamless customer journeys that highlighted everything from outdoor waiting spaces to life-saving transit to menu optimization. Roderick McOwan, chief development officer of Marshall Retail Group and Mark E. Brown, CEO of Miracle Flights , kicked off the Trends Mixer session with an overview of their partnership program that brings children suffering from life threatening diseases to world-class medical facilities, free of charge. Organizing 600 flights a month nationwide, one of the program’s most important tenets is making sure kids (and parents) feel as much at ease as possible despite the circumstances. “These kids are on a journey that is difficult,” said Brown, noting that each child who f lies with their organization receives a small stuffed bear named “Miles” to ease the process. Miracle Flights turned to MRG to help them not only upgrade “Miles” to a more financially sustainable manufacturing model, but they worked together to sell the bear in MRG locations to benefit the organization. To date, they’ve sold more than 10,000 bears and raised nearly $100,000 for Miracle Flights. Next was Jose Cuevas, senior manager of commercial for JFK International Air Terminal, which operate’s Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport

Left: Rick Blatstein, CEO, and Justin Blatstein, executive vice president of OTG, share their technology, staffing, and new engagement strategies.

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