Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2023

(JFK). Operating a thoroughfare that’s expected to serve over 20 million passengers this year alone, Cuevas highlighted the need to prioritize independent vendors and support the local economy within airports. Acknowledging the logistical and financial barriers that prevent many smaller businesses from entering the airport space, Cuevas said that “there is no one-size-fits-all solution - we all know that being an airport operation is a challenge.” To combat the hurdles, Cuevas and his team collaborated with the New York’s Taste NY Program as well as the Queens Economic Development Corporation to conduct outreach to more than 3,000 businesses, partnering with several dozen independent brands to build a seasonal street market and activation platform in Terminal 4, of which at least 10 brands began negotiations to be permanently installed in the terminal. Speakers Nadine Heubel, senior managing director of travel retail North America and global wholesale at Newmark, and Rebecca Henshaw, associate partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants , focused on customer value and pricing as a key to unlocking better traveler experiences and increased concessions and retail revenue. After surveying 2,000 U.S. passengers on their travel spending habits, Henshaw and Heubel’s teams found that while participation on food and beverage purchases are high, spending is low. “People are buying a snack and water and leaving it there,” said Henshaw. Analyzing the hurdles to further spending engagement, the team found that water in particular Above Jose Cuevas, senior manager of commercial for JFK International Air Terminal, highlighted the need to prioritize independent vendors and support the local economy within airports.

- often priced at as much as $6 a bottle - discourages travelers from spending elsewhere, as they assume other pricing will be similarly upmarket. Heubel and Henshaw argued that to further encourage travel spending — particularly within the GenZ travel cohort, which will soon account for 30% of passengers —affordably priced, convenient, and most importantly, healthy grab-and-go options were critical to encouraging purchases. Adding in scaled-up digital communications, payment options and curated, frictionless retail at both entry level and luxury price points are also the gateway to marrying physical store experiences with digital strategy, said Heubel, adding: “nobody in the value chain can do this alone.” Elaborating on the importance of physical space design was Ty Osbaugh, a principal and director of aviation and transportation at Gensler . Referencing the day’s opening remarks on “bleisure” travel trends, Osbaugh focused on the architectural solutions to make unfamiliar locations both easy to navigate and enjoyable to inhabit. “A lot of our clients are looking for what they call a ‘sense of place’, but to me, what’s more important is creating a place of sense,” said Osbaugh, sharing a potential renovation of JFK’s Terminal 1 to include double-height, light-filled arrival, customs, and baggage claim areas and frictionless, biometric security checkpoints on escalators and AirTrain entry points. These innovations could not only smooth congestion at in-airport security points, but keep the majority of airport space focused Above: Nadine Heubel, senior managing director of travel retail North America and global wholesale at Newmark, shared survey results that indicate airport spending habits of North American travelers.

Above: Ty Osbaugh, a principal and director of aviation and transportation at Gensler spoke about architectural solutions to make unfamiliar locations both easy to navigate and enjoyable to inhabit.

Above: Restaurant menus should tell a story to maximize profits, according to Sean Willard of Menu Engineers

on food, beverage, and retail, Osbaugh said. Rounding out the panel was Sean Willard of Menu Engineers , a consulting firm centered around assisting restaurante operators inmaximizing revenue by tweaking menus. Willard presented several case studies in which small tweaks significantly increased targeted item sales and overall revenue without significant overhead investment. Willard predicted that in anticipation of continued supply chain shortages and the after-effects of COVID-19, streamlined menu offerings, bundled goods, more portion options, increased off-premise takeout and non-alcoholic beverage offerings would be here to stay. He cited a case study of a barbeque restaurant where simply by offering several new portions of their smoked wings, they were able to

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