The Design Solution
Travel retail landmarks
40 years of innovation – eight significant events that have reshaped the industry (continued).
In association with
2014-2018
A growing Sense of Place
Sense of Place is an expression that has been in the US airport design industry for many years. Partly fuelled by their mandatory arts programme, but also by regional pride. Elements of local influence began to feature in airport terminal design.
Vancouver Airport is an early fine example, where indigenous arts, materials and character are blended to create a unique airport environment.
As the first half of the decade progressed, a momentum began to build. Major terminals such as Mumbai T2 placed pride in India at the heart of the design inspiration, championed passionately by the team at GVK.
As the years moved on, it has become increasingly prevalent to bring the spirit of the locale into the terminal. The brief from airport owners and operators is that this initiative should be included in terminal designs. This trend now pervades the duty free industry, with the majority of airports requiring the retail design to reflect their airport, city, region and country. It was not long ago that airport terminals were epitomised by white, grey or silver big span roofs, and shops standard to their operators’ designs, and not the location. This is now history.
Delhi Airport, India
Mumbai Airport, India
Cancún Airport, Mexico
2019-2023
Lockdown and recovery
Over the past 40 years, the industry has been impacted by a range of external crises – from viruses and volcanoes to regional conflicts and political instability – but COVID-19 posed an unprecedented threat. Airports planning around steady traffic growth suddenly had no passengers. Projects were stopped, development funds used to stay solvent and desperate negotiations required among commercial partners.
As COVID-19 ended, a more cautious world emerged and the airport industry settled into a period of change. The separation lines between retail and F&B are eroding. Good examples are the acquisitions of Autogrill-Host by Dufry, becoming Avolta; and Marché by Lagardère. This is the start of the merging of a more seamless eating/shopping/drinking experience.
In the industry’s urgency to recoup its losses during the pandemic, the crisis has inspired a major and lasting focus on technology, supporting performance in everything from passenger processing to digital enhancement of the retail experience.
During this time, one the most anticipated terminals opened – Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport Terminal A welcomed its first passengers and for the first time the world could see one of the wonders of the travel retail industry.
Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport, UAE
Looking ahead to future trends
- Hybridisation of retail and F&B permeates the commercial offer.
- Airports redefine processes to deliver traveller-centric experiences.
- Environments become intelligent and are able to respond to travellers’ moods.
- Hyper localisation challenges the dominance of global brands.
- Duty free sees virtual shopping outstripping physical sales.
- Digital experiences become personalised to individuals’ profiles.
Partner's message
The Moodie Davitt eZine Issue 332 | 8 March 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com