The lounge experience: Striking the perfect blend

Airport Dimensions CEO Mignon Buckingham shares her views on the trends that are influencing today’s traveller and their impact on the delivery of a high-quality lounge experience.

When it comes to what lounge to visit, price is an important factor. But it’s the experience that sets one lounge offer apart from others. As our guests begin to take to the skies once again, they travel with new expectations about what they want from hospitality, service and customer care, and the experience they seek is no longer the same.

The shift to leading more of our lives online has been a long time coming, but was given a massive shove by COVID. We’re now seeing this change reflected in traveller attitudes and preferences. The adoption of digital options and the expectation of digital services at every stage of the airport journey has been hugely accelerated.

Similarly, the way consumers behave on the high street (the way they make purchase decisions, the products they choose and the style of service they appreciate) are mirrored in their desires as they travel. A craving to replicate the experiences customers enjoy in their day-to-day lives may be heightened by the need for added reassurance in what is potentially an even more stressful time when they travel. Personalisation, for example, is expected to be of greater importance to the returning traveller. A 2020 study by customer service platform provider Gladly found that over 80% of customers will now go out of their way to spend more money on personalised experiences.

Looking at the macro-trends that are underpinning these shifting demands, we at Airport Dimensions have identified four main drivers that are now shaping how the travelling consumer thinks and feels at the airport, and we’ve also looked at what we can do to respond to these changes.

Firstly, it goes without saying that safety has risen up the agenda, and while threats have changed since 9/11 to the present COVID crisis, the need to feel safe has not. Spotless facilities and carefully managed service options, along with well-designed spaces which allow people to socially distance, are not optional at lounges now. They are expected as standard.

Allied to this is the ever-growing importance of health and wellness. A recent study by Ogilvy concluded that 77% of people see wellness as extremely important, while 80% want to improve their wellness, and 75% think that brands could work harder to help them on their way. For lounge operators, this shift offers big opportunities. It might be something as simple as adding new menu options such as restorative elixirs and imaginatively named mocktails or wellness foods. It could, however, also be something as dramatic as offering yoga studios or meditation spaces.

Thirdly, comfort has taken on new meaning. Travelling can be traumatic at the best of times and under the present circumstances any respite, whether that’s the food & beverage offered, the ambience of the space, or service that goes that little bit further, will be especially welcome. Adding extra layers of comfort is key to competing for customers in search of an elevated experience.

Finally, all consumers, and particularly airline travellers, want convenience and personalisation. New digital services will provide this. Ticketing, check-in and baggage management are all being handled digitally, while CRM technology is making customisation so much easier. As travellers have learnt to rely on digital and mobile technology in their daily lives, they are starting to expect the same across a sometimes fragmented airport experience.

Across the airport, but particularly in the lounge environment, striking a balance between the speed and convenience of digital services, such as dining requests or duty free ordering, and the human touch that creates a quality brand experience, is a fine art.

Understanding the trends that propel these evolutions and knowing how to delight travellers makes sound commercial sense. Our own research found that happy passengers spend more. At airports where 40% of passengers say they have had an enjoyable experience, they spend under US$33 on average. But this figure rises to over US$198 at airports where 88% of passengers agree that the airport experience is an enjoyable part of the journey.

Ours is a dynamic and creative industry. There’s much going on in terms of innovation within the lounge offer, enhancing the hospitality experience, and providing environments that prioritise the health and wellness of passengers. I’ll be shining a spotlight on some outstanding examples of how airports can tap into the latest trends and up the happiness levels of their own passengers in a future edition of Airport Consumer Experience.