L-R: Luis Marin, President & CEO Europe, Middle East and Africa, Avolta; Joost Rosmuller, VP & Managing Director, WTR – Mondelēz International; Elias Liolios, Director of Commercial & Business Development, Hermes Airports; and Martijn Steur, Vice-Chair of the ACI Europe Commercial Forum.

Effective ways to help drive revenue growth for all DF&TR stakeholders, inspire greater collaboration and enhance the customer experience were in the spotlight in a session titled ‘Re-enchanting Travel Retail’ at the ETRC Business Forum 2026 in Amsterdam.

Martijn Steur, Vice-Chair of the ACI Europe Commercial Forum, shared the thinking behind updates to the Tender Code framework, noting that creating a magical experience for shoppers in travel retail begins before the store even opens.

“On the complex topic of tenders, there is no silver bullet – it’s more a framework we are trying to develop,” he explained about the Tender Code.

The updates that are being encompassed now represent a modernisation, building on the original, which launched in 2001.

This is to keep pace with changing travel behaviours and other key industry dynamics – all steered by the working group of airports, retailers and brands.

The updates are also intended to reflect key insights gleamed from the Exploring and Testing the Prevailing Business Models in Travel Retail report, released in 2025, which was conducted by the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling and commissioned by the ETRC (please click here to download).

Steur explained how stakeholders being in alignment is central to the ‘shared risk, shared reward’ approach of tenders, saying: “We all align on the passenger journey but we come from different angles. So how do we bring these vantage points together in the ecosystem?’

Part of the solution has been turning “anecdotes into facts”, with a survey carried out of airports, retailers and advisors in the field to pinpoint areas of alignment and expose friction point.

This has given rise to a picture of where stakeholders align most strongly. such as the appetite for ‘improved data transparency’, and what the biggest gaps are, such as ‘over reliance on fixed MAG’.

“At least we all agree that we want to move away from just price – we want to go to value,” said Steur.

Martijn Steur, Vice-Chair of the ACI Europe Commercial Forum, exlaiend where today’s tender processes can struggle the most.

In terms of moving this forward, the ACI Europe task force that’s dedicated to revising the concession model, is collecting best practices and examples to help set a clear path forward, based on the guiding principles for a modernised tender code, which are: partnership & collaboration (fostering proactive trust-based engagement between airports and operators); passenger orientation (prioritising value for customers); risk/reward balance (such as flexible commercial models); segment sensitivity; and transparent processes.

“The proof of the pudding is how far – as an industry or group or in a conversation you are going to have with your partners – you are going to push that,” he pointed out.

Next, Elias Liolios, Director of Commercial & Business Development, Hermes Airports, took to delve into the session theme, drawing on the commercial redesign of Larnaka International Airport (LCA) with CTC-ARI as an example.

“The guiding principle for us is the passenger – we need to understand the needs and expectations through data analysis, surveys, focus groups, and everything else that you’re going to do.”

Elias Liolios, Director of Commercial & Business Development, Hermes Airports, highlights key purchase drivers in H1 2025.

Good leadership with a strong a vision, mission strategy and purpose was also flagged as an essential driver.

He continued: “We have to have a common culture, [and] vision. We need to use technology – but we’re not an Amazon. It’s a negative but also a positive that we have an environment that people need to go through. Last but not least… without the people there and going through the process of understanding what their role is in giving to the passenger, the customer, the guest… we will not achieve what we want to achieve.”

He summarised: “The employee is the cornerstone. We need the executive management support in order to have this happen. Customers bring revenues, employees drive the experience and technology is not the final solution, it is the enabler.”

Known for its heightened sense of place – or spirit of place, which Tracy Ross, Head of Design & Planning, ARIME, spoke about in depth at the 2025 TR Consumer Forum – the thrust of the retail experience at LCA, he explained, is helping the passenger to feel what Cyprus is all about, with a roster of local gems woven throughout to create a welcoming and distinctive shopping environment.

When it comes to getting under the skin of the consumer, Liolios revealed that Hermes Airports has a psychoanalyst on hand to share insights into the psychology of the passenger, as well as the people who are tasked with activating experiences at the airport, to help the two join together.

Ultimately, delivering “experience over transaction” in order to deliver the ‘wow’ factor is key, aided by local, authentic, personalised and curated offerings.

The effort, he says, is more than worth it with the retail revamps in Cyprus delivering “double-digit growth” for perfumes and cosmetics (P&C) through value, exclusivity and newness; tobacco via the value offering; Kypriaka concept stores though local experiences; and fashion also through exclusivity and newness.

Joost Rosmuller, Vice President & Managing Director, World Travel Retail – Mondelēz International, shared insights into how to encourage passengers to shop, in more stores, and also to spend more.

Joost Rosmuller, Vice President & Managing Director, World Travel Retail – Mondelēz International, brought a confectionery category perspective to the fore, citing the issue of low penetration, spend beign under pressure and attention going elsewhere as barriers to business.

“Compared to five years ago, people are spending twice as long on their devices, which is an issue – or maybe an opportunity,” he said.

“We often talk about having a captive audience, but I would like to challenge that – I think we have a distracted audience and that’s why [bringing] this magic is so important.”

Mondelēz carried out research with 7,200 travellers around the world to gain a deeper understanding of their behaviours. The results help to demonstrate how the confectionery category can be key to boosting penetration and spend, says the company, with key findings including that half of non-buyers are open to buying confectionery (45% in Europe) and of those who do buy, seven out of 10 would “love to add chocolate to their basket”.

He also spoke of the opportunity to rethink value by exploring the opportunity to reduce friction and increase the delight factor for shoppers.

He went on to map out how Mondelēz is working through a variety of tools and touchpoints to connect with travellers at various stages of the journey, with the aim of inspiring more passengers to shop, in more stores, and spend more through memorable experiences.

Encouraging stakeholders to participate in sharing intelligence, investments and, ultimately, rewards is the way to do this together, he said. The recent launch of the Toblerone Pink Crush bar in a world-exclusive release at Hamad International Airport, is a great example of that.

“It’s not about competing harder, it’s about collaborating smarter,” he said.

Luis Marin, President & CEO Europe, Middle East and Africa, Avolta.

Finally, Luis Marin, President & CEO Europe, Middle East and Africa, Avolta, added this perspective,

“[Continued passenger] growth alone is not going to generate value,” he told the audience. “We have to think about value creation. Growth may generate value in the short-term, but certainly not in the medium- or in the long-term.”

Crucial for stimulating spend and earning customer loyalty, he said, is providing a ‘proper’ customer experience, which includes great value, to ‘enchant’ the consumer.

While challenges exist, there are still “plenty of ways to enchant”, said Marin. “You need to bring them innovation, technology, experience, entertainment, fun… you need to interact. You need to give them feedback and get feedback from them.”

As a case in point, he referenced the Formula One simulator Avolta has deployed in a selection of its airport spaces. Activations such as this, he says, naturally draw people to the airport earlier to check out what’s going on in the stores.

Another good example is the Corner by Real Madrid in terminals T1 and T4 of Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.

In summary discussions, advice from the panel included the need to have courage to make bold decisions and to be brave in the face of failure in order to learn from experience.

“Guest satisfaction is the number one KPI,” said Rosmuller. “If guests are satisfied they will come back, they will feel at ease, they will spend… the dollars will come.”

READ NEXT: ETRC President: “We still need to do more on data”

READ NEXT: ETRC Business Forum in Amsterdam welcomes more than 165 delegates