A study from Duty Free World Council (DFWC) has revealed that air traffic in all regions in Q4 2023 has risen above pre-pandemic 2019 records, except in Asia Pacific.
According to DFWC’s 2023 Q4 KPI Monitor, the Middle East and Africa recorded the biggest increase in passenger numbers, reaching 117% of 2019 levels.
South America ranked second with traffic reaching 111% of the pre-pandemic period, followed by North America with 104% and Europe with 102%.
The slowest recovery was seen in Asia Pacific, where air traffic for Q4 2023 stands at 80% of 2019 levels. That’s according to m1nd-set’s B1S tool, which sources air traffic and forecasts data from International Air Transport Association’s comprehensive DDS database.
In its quarterly air traffic and shopper behaviour monitor, DFWC noted that the sluggish passenger growth in the region contributed to the global average falling just below 100% for Q4 2023 compared to the same period in 2019.
In terms of outbound travel markets, the study shows a slight difference between Q3 and Q4 2023.
The US, UK, Germany and France are still the top four nationalities for outbound travel, with Spain replacing Italy in fifth position.
Italy is now in seventh place while India took the sixth spot, from seventh position the previous quarter.
Turkey and the Netherlands are in eighth and ninth respectively, while South Korea replaced China, which was at number ten in Q3.
According to the quarterly report, purchase planning behaviour has seen “quite a considerable movement” between Q3 and Q4.
The study suggests that 73% of shoppers from across the globe planned their purchases in Q4 to some extent, either specifically or with something in mind. This is +7 percentage points higher than in the previous period.
m1nd-set CEO and Owner Peter Mohn said: “It is not unusual to see higher levels of shopping planning during the pre-festive period seasons.
“However, we see that as consumers have returned to the skies in greater numbers and are enjoying the travel experience and emotions that are generated by increasingly more inspiring airports and airport retail, that this is also having an impact on the tendency to plan airport shopping.
“We see that the purchase motivation has evolved also, particularly when comparing to the same period in 2022. Self-purchases have declined by -5% over the period. Purchases for sharing have also declined, while gift purchases and purchases made on request of friends and family have both increased between Q4 2022 and the same period in 2023.”
DFWC President Sarah Branquinho added: “Industry training programmes on customer service and engagement appear to be producing positive results, as staff interaction levels are on the rise once again after consistent declines over previous quarters.
“The latest Monitor reveals that in Q4, 47% of shoppers globally interacted with sales staff, an increase of +3% on Q3 last year. The impact of staff interactions also rose moderately, from 68% in Q3 to 69% in Q4.”
She concluded: “We are still a long way from early post-pandemic engagement levels, however, which were at over 70%, with impact levels higher still. The importance of quality training on staff interaction for improved customer engagement and the delivery of a world class customer experience, whether through the DFWC Academy or individual company staff training programmes, cannot be highlighted enough.” ✈
