M1nd-set: ‘Sense of place’ key to travellers’ demands

By Charlotte Turner |

m1nd-set-B1S-sense-of-place-leadM1nd-set’s latest Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) report reveals that ‘sense of place’ emerges as one of the key attributes international travellers seek at airports.

 

This latest B1S report, which is based on over 20,000 face to face interviews at airports on all continents reveals that over 60% of international travellers rank sense of place as an important part of their overall airport experience.

 

M1nd-set’s Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) looks at all aspects of the travel retail experience and shopper journey at over 100 airports around the world

 

The findings are consistent with other aspects the report reveals about shoppers’ preferences and needs where a ‘different’, ‘unique’, ‘local’ and ‘authentic’ experience are among the key attributes sought after by global travellers.

 

Travellers are not just seeking a different experience compared to other airports, but also with regards to other retail channels.

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Customer groups which are most satisfied with the sense of place experience at airports include the Millennials and low cost carrier (LCC) passengers.

 

WOMEN MOST IMPRESSED BY SENSE OF PLACE

According to m1nd-set’s B1S report, women tend to express greater satisfaction than men when it comes to sense of place and on a regional basis, the Middle East & Asia airports top the rankings for satisfaction in this aspect of airport retailing.

 

The Middle East gets a 60% overall satisfaction score, with 27% for ‘excellent’ and 33% ‘very good’, while airports in Asia have a 61% satisfaction rating with 21% stating sense of place at airports in the region is ‘excellent’ and 40% ‘very good’.

 

M1nd-set Owner & CEO Peter Mohn comment:s “We are increasingly seeing the importance of differentiation in the travel retail sector. Passengers want a unique experience at each airport they fly through, both with the overall airport experience and the travel retail offer in particular.

 

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

“We see from our research that where passengers are given a unique experience thanks to excellent and innovative localised execution, whether in the airport design, the merchandising and retail layout or the product offering, they have a much stronger emotional connection and attachment to that airport.

 

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“This positive emotional experience puts them in a state of mind which makes them more prone to shopping and which generates greater customer loyalty.”

 

M1nd-set’s Travel Retail Research Director Clara Perez adds: “The consumer insights reports from the face to face interviews are just one element of the B1S. The interactive tool B1S, also provides macro- economic insights and air traffic and forecasting data on an airport and/or nationality level for all relevant airports, nationalities, age groups (e.g. Millennials) around the world.”

 

Mohn continues: “We are fortunate to have a partnership with IATA and its data partner Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) for our air traffic and forecasting data as unlike other tools, which only represent 50% of the market, the B1S data is holistic as it is compiled both from airline ticket sales and LCC ticket sales.

 

“Thanks to this and our comprehensive database of international shopper interviews which we carry out on site at airports, we are able to provide a unique 360° degree insights service at over 100 airports incorporating these fundamental location specific data sets.”

 

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