Airport Experience® News - Retail & Amenities Issue 2023

as a Cherry Blossom Margarita, along with food from local purveyors. The lounge showcases hi stor ic architectural images of the airport’s original control tower and terminal and has teak wood architectural elements, mid-century modern furniture, local featured artists and custom mugs and pottery designed locally, as well. As for leisure travelers, those traveling with families will have available kid-sized tables and chairs and access to a parent’s room complete with comfortable seating, a well stocked changing table and a bottle warmer. Airport Dimensions Evolving Too The Club Lounge, opening at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) next spring, will also have a variety of offerings aimed at ensuring it meets the needs of all travelers. The space will have localized design elements, such as reclaimed wood with fire pits. There will be local artwork, a family room, a wellness area for yoga, showers, sleep space and more. “We’ve realized a lot of needs happen in an airport” says Gilles Bussutil, vice president of customer experience at Airport Dimensions, mentioning sleeping, gaming and lounging. “There is a huge market that we can attract if we respond to what they want during their time at the airport.” A few factors are driving this change domestically. It began taking shape during COVID as more people started using lounges to better keep their distance from other travelers. It has continued as airports nationwide are playing catch-up on infrastructure investments at airports and as passengers return to airports much more quickly than had originally been projected. “It’s almost like an aviation revival that we’re experiencing today with a strong understanding, first from all of the CEOs at airports, that they’re in the experiential business,” Bussutil says, adding that in the past, airports generated passenger spend without as much focus on providing a top experience. “Now they’re realizing that while we still need to be able to have revenue as airports, we are going to make sure that there is a value add to the customers and make sure the airport experience becomes a destination before your flight.”

‘ok, we need a room,’ because if you play with kids or kids need to play, there needs to be some kind of contained space.” And, while she would not say where, DiFurio indicated the next generation of lounges will often include gaming consoles, arcade games and who knows what else. The specific amenities in any given airport will depend on traveler data and demographics. Orlando International Airport (MCO) is a heavy leisure market so that traveler demographic will demand a different kind of lounge space than an airport that is heavily skewed toward business travel. Much of this, DiFurio says, has been driven by third-party lounges that started popping up when American Express started opening lounges for its cardholders. In recent years, Capital One and Chase have entered the race as have other independent lounge companies. “The competition has become a lot more fierce,” she says. Beyond games, kids and comfort, local feel is sneaking into airport lounges through design elements, food and beverage, art and even scents – much like the recognizable

smell, she says, of walking into a Four Seasons hotel. “It makes you want to go back and reminds you of that really pleasant experience,” she DiFurio says. “Localization is huge. It’s the biggest design trend these days for lounges. Travelers are looking for something that is unique when they go to each lounge.” The Trend Continues Capital One’s network continues to grow, as well, with its most recent opening at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in early September. The new, 8,500-square-foot Capital One Lounge located just beyond security between the Transportation Security Administration’s East and West check points, was designed after the historic IAD terminal, which itself was designed by world-renowned architect Eero Saarinen. It contains a lot of the locally-inspired amenities and a lot of local feel mentioned by DiFurio, such as craft beers like a Pre-Flight Helles Lager, and cocktails,such

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