In this guest article, James Brown, Communications Director at integrated design and marketing agency WePurple, explores how the booming US$200 billion gaming industry could encourage travellers to look up, browse and buy.
Reflecting on the recent TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, one of the key hurdles we heard and discussed with exhibitors was that of conversion. The phrases “How can we bring travellers to the store?” and “How can we compete with F&B and mobile devices for traveller attention and spend?” came up throughout the week.
As travel retail seeks new ways to engage travellers, the world of gaming is often overlooked. It’s time to meet travellers where they spend their time – on their devices. We believe that more gaming proposals, and broadly more engagement, could change the game on conversion – and paradoxically bring back travellers into the physical world.
Over the past decade, gaming has quietly but convincingly become a key pillar of modern culture. Valued at $200 billion, the global gaming sector has far surpassed Hollywood in revenue terms each year. It’s now considered a standalone medium alongside film, literature and theatre – especially among younger Millennial and Gen Z audiences.
We are also seeing gaming influence our lives beyond our PlayStation screens. For instance, TV spinoffs of hit games like Fallout and The Last of Us flip the script on the movie-videogame tie-in model, while the opening of Super Nintendo World has helped Universal Studios Osaka attract record visitors.
Beyond impacting what we watch and how we holiday, the enduring appeal of location-based AR games such as Pokémon Go (127 million monthly users and counting) speaks to a broader convergence of gaming with exercise, community building and cultural exploration.
As travel retail’s leading integrated design, marketing and communications agency group, we have a front row seat to observe how airports, retailers and brands are leveraging the world of gaming.
Back in 2022, WePurple designed the Lacoste x Minecraft pop-up at China Duty Free Group’s Mova Mall in Haikou – a seamless integration of the digital creativity of Minecraft and Lacoste’s fashion expertise into a memorable in-store experience.
Today, while we are seeing some strong signs of gaming culture in global travel retail – this summer’s Mario Kart Jewel Circuit Challenge in our home city of Singapore comes to mind – there are plenty of other ways in which the Trinity could power up their efforts.
What is there to gain? According to Vogue Business, the impact on consumer engagement could be significant – with 63% of fashion brands seeing higher product click-through rates via gamified shopping on virtual stores, according to a study by Coresight research. We see engagement as the first step in driving conversion.
Ever curious, the WePurple team shares some creative inspiration for the industry to get ahead of the game:
Level Up: Airport gaming lounges
Gaming lounges in airports are not new. Since Dallas–Fort Worth Airport’s Gameway opened a lounge in 2017, dedicated spaces have popped up across the USA, Europe and Dubai. There is an opportunity to increase synergy and drive traffic between lounges and the global travel retail store next door – this could include sampling of snacks and drinks brands, offering gaming merchandise, or pairing fragrances to specific games and zones.
Looking eastward, the potential for gaming lounges and hybrid gaming-retail experiences in Asia travel retail is largely untapped.
There is a rich gaming culture found across Asia, with the opportunity to tap into local preferences such as the popularity of console gaming in Japan, PC e-sports in South Korea and mobile-first concepts in China and Southeast Asia.
Get in the game: New partnerships
Convincing travellers to look up from their mobile devices remains a key barrier to creating meaningful engagement in the airport. How can travel retail compete with built-in habits for scrolling social media, gaming and streaming TV during downtime?
The reality is we will not break the habit, instead we need to play where the audience is to drive traffic and sales in-store. This could also open the door to reaching a more diverse audience than you would think. In 2024, women made up 46% of gamers worldwide; and 25% of Candy Crush players are over the age of 45.
New partnerships could hold the key, for instance, scanning a receipt QR code to unlock new travel-themed levels on Candy Crush, score a beach-ready character skin on Fortnite, or trigger a rare critter appearance in Pokémon Go.
In a world where there is a demand for sustainable GWPs across the board, a unique gaming experience to unlock would be more eco-friendly and more fun.
Game changer: The rise of streamers
When you think of influencers in global travel retail, you’d be forgiven for picturing a high-end travel and lifestyle personality or KOLs specialising in beauty or premium spirits.
It’s time to broaden our thinking. By engaging with gaming streamers, travel retail can tap into the 240 million monthly active users on Twitch, 70% of which are under 35 years old.
Picture this: a leading chocolate brand in global travel retail hosts a streamer showdown to mark the launch of Mario Kart World – the latest franchise instalment featuring tracks inspired by diverse real-world environments – to reinforce its travel credentials.
Curated ‘loot box’ influencer kits featuring power-up snacks and merchandise would complete the experience.
Game on
Since the first gaming lounge opened in 2017, global travel retail has fundamentally changed. We can no longer correlate a rise in traffic with a rise in spend, and when travellers do spend they are more likely to seek experiences, not just products.
To remain relevant, the industry needs to drive engagement by tapping into the dominant culture of today, and gaming has a key role to play throughout the traveller journey.
The integration of gaming into global travel retail marketing strategies could enhance the traveller experience, diversify the channel’s appeal beyond premium and luxury shoppers, and drive that all-important conversion.
Are you ready to press start on the GTR gaming opportunity? ✈
