From July, Florida’s Tampa International Airport (TPA) starts the search for new operators for its food and beverage, retail, services and duty free units – the first time in 40 years that the whole programme has been up for grabs. This was first reported here.

 

The competition comes at a time when the airport has been expanding its international route network and is embarking on a big upgrade (see main image for artists impression showing new people mover). In 2013, TPA launched new direct Copa Airlines flights to Panama; extra frequencies to Zürich on Edelweiss Air; and added several weekly flights to three Cuban cities.

 

The latest concession information from the airport says that bids will be accepted from July on 13 F&B, retail, services and duty free packages worth about $1.3bn in gross sales over 10 years. By the end of 2015, airport visitors will begin to see new storefronts and restaurants opening, with all new businesses in place by 2017.

 

The contract with the airport’s existing sole concessionaire – which dates back to the opening of the terminal in 1971 – expires next year. TPA says now it will make contracts available to multiple operators, “a concessions model that has become popular among large airports in recent years”.

 

Of the 13 packages, six are for F&B ranging in size from three to 11 units; four are retail packages from three to 14 units in size located in a mix of landside and airside locations; two are service packages [which could include nail salons, hairdressers and spas] that will be four to five units each, both airside; and a single duty free package that is two units in size.

 

Bhavesh Patel, Director of Concessions at TPA says: “This is the first time in more than 40 years that we have embarked on redeveloping our entire Airport Concessions Programme, and we plan to introduce new concepts and offerings that will both reflect the spirit of Tampa Bay and create a memorable dining and shopping experience for our customers.”

 

TPA processed a total of 19.9m passengers in 2013, up +0.6% making it the 31^st biggest airport in North America. Southwest Airlines dominates the traffic with a 27.7% share followed by Delta with 16.8%.