AUSTRALIA. The Australian Airports Association’s inaugural Airport Retail & Commercial Forum took place last week in Gold Coast, and will be long remembered as the first significant gathering of the airport commercial industry in the region after the restrictions caused by the pandemic.
That sense of a return to normality helps to explain the positive mood among airport, concessionaire and other service representatives, almost 200 of whom showed their faith in the future of the sector by attending the conference at the QT Hotel. Strong sponsorship support and a high-class speaker line-up attracted by organisers the AAA, The Mercurius Group and The Moodie Davitt Report also underlined that sense of business on the rebound.
While upbeat, the tone was also realistic. Like their peers worldwide, airports and their partners continue to struggle with labour shortages, stock issues and debt and these will all take time to work through for a still troubled aviation eco-system.
The partnership model remains a challenge, as an engaging panel discussion about risk on day one showed. Positively though, the fact that so many airport tenants have made it through the crisis shows that a spirit of cooperation has prevailed – and as we heard, that relationships in many cases have been strengthened.
The consumer, who they are and how they want to engage and transact, was another key talking point, one brought to life by customer and service experts, as well as industry representatives. The digital agenda and ambitions of many companies on display during the week showed a sector grappling with the questions of how to interest and convert consumers, and investing financial and other resources in trying to find the answers.
The event also offered something for everyone, with a refreshing blend of topics spanning duty free and dining to ground transport, property and hotels, as well as themes that resonated with large and small airports alike.
Here we present a pictorial summary of a memorable event.
19 JULY
The Australian Airports Association’s inaugural Airport Retail & Commercial Forum began on Tuesday evening in Gold Coast with ‘a taste of Australia’ networking event sponsored by WHSmith.
20 JULY
The Airport Retail & Commercial Forum kicked off with a strong first day of conference sessions on 20 July, featuring a blend of insightful presentations and robust debate on the way forward for the regional industry.
GALA DINNER AND AWARDS
Airport Retail Enterprises Assistant Site Manager – Gold Coast Airport Verity Eddy, Lagardère AWPL Area Manager Maiko Sheppeard, Sydney Airport General Manager – Commercial Leasing Mark Zaouk and Airport Retail Enterprises Chairman and Owner Peter Butts were all recognised at the inaugural Retail & Commercial Awards on 20 July.
The awards, made by nomination and selected by the organising committee, paid tribute to career achievement and industry contribution as well as the key role of customer-facing and back-of-house team members.
They were presented by Kym Meys, National Chair of the Australian Airports Association, and Executive General Manager Planning & Infrastructure at Adelaide Airport.
Eddy was recognised as Team Member Recognition in Food & Beverage for helping to carry the business through the pandemic and out the other side, while still ensuring her team offered superb customer service.
Sheppeard won the Team Member Recognition Award for Retail, having risen through the ranks of the company, starting in the store, becoming a location manager and now an area multi-location manager.
Zaouk, who won Career Achievement Award Airports, has overseen the retail transformation of three terminals and been a key influence on the delivery of strong revenue growth at Sydney Airport, as well as helping introduce a range of first to market concepts to the location.
Butts is among the pioneers of the industry in Australia, with a career of over 50 years, and ARE the biggest F&B operation in Australia by number of outlets.
During COVID, he decided to show his support to his airport partners by keeping at least one outlet open at each airport, even if it was losing money, to support and provide a service to passengers as well as airport staff.
He won the Career Achievement Award Concessionaire at the awards evening. Other images from the evening are featured below.
21 JULY
Themes such as digital innovation, the future for food & beverage, property opportunities and the way forward for regional airports were discussed on the final day of the Airport Retail & Commercial Forum.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
