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Creating a strongSenseof PlaceIn association with

Sense of Place is central to the design of the upcoming Singapore Jewel Changi Airport. The Forest Valley builds on Singapore’s status as the Garden City, and helps highlight its story and character.

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Ben

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ger emotional connectionSense of Place

New m1nd-set research shows that more and more passengers are ranking Sense of Place as an important part of their overall airport experience. When given localised and differentiated experiences, travellers are developing stronger emotional connections to the airport – which puts them in a state of mind to shop. Jason Holland reports.

The Moodie Davitt Report has championed the concept of Sense

of Place since its earliest days, leading to the introduction in this publication of a regular column about the concept in 2015.

Now sponsored by Aer Rianta International, the column asks (among other avenues of exploration): How do – and should – airports reflect the intellectual notion of Sense of Place? What difference does it make to how travellers perceive an important element in the travel experience? Where does the retail and food & drinks offer fit in?

The column has explored a multitude of expressions of Sense of Place in the airport world. As travellers continue to seek memorable and unique experiences, the concept has become widespread – and is increasingly a key focus for airports, retailers and brands in such areas as designs, openings and product ranges.

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1South

America

17%

29%

North America

48%

46%

New research has highlighted just how vital Sense of Place now is to the airport experience. According to a new Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) report from travel retail research company m1nd-set, more than 60% of international travellers rank Sense of Place as an important part of their overall airport experience.

The report, which evaluates passengers’ travel retail experience and shopping journey at over 100 airports around the world, found that airports in the Middle East and Asia offered the most satisfying expressions of the concept.

The Middle East received a 60% overall satisfaction score for Sense of Place, with 27% stating that the Sense of Place at airports in the region is ‘excellent’, and 33% ‘very good’. Airports in Asia received a 61% satisfaction rating, with 21% calling

Sense of Place at airports in the region ‘excellent’ and 40% ‘very good’. Some of the best examples of Sense of Place in the Middle East and Asia are highlighted in the images throughout this column.

Millennials and low-cost carrier flyers are the market segments most satisfied with their experience of Sense of Place at airports, the report found, with women tending to express greater satisfaction about it than men.

Respondents (the B1S report is based on more than 20,000 face-to-face interviews at airports on all continents) said they were broadly seeking a ‘different’, ‘unique’, ‘local’ and ‘authentic’ shopping experience. But travellers are not just seeking a different experience compared with other airports, m1nd-set said; they are also looking for a different experience to what they can find in other retail channels.

Aer Rianta International’s P&C category at Abu Dhabi International Airport will evoke a strong Sense of Place inspired by the story of the Arabian Perfume Route and the influence of Oudh on many international brands

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Sense of Place

27%

33%

Middle East

21%

40%

Asia

16%

33%

Europe

15%

33%

5%

27%

68%

Africa

7%

35%

Australasia

27%33%

40% ExcellentVery goodSatisfaction with “Sense of Place” at Airports

% 32%

60%

49%

61%

42%

Located above passport control at Indira Gandhi Airport T3, a stunning wall with 675 copper discs interspersed with nine mudras (Indian hand gestures) provides a warm welcome to India and to Delhi

Source: m1nd-set

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Sense of Place

Xi’an Xianyang International Airport’s Shaanxi Famous Snacks Food Alley recreates the ancient streets of Xi’an with local and regional food sold from counters in a street food setting

Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport T2 expresses Sense of Place through its constantly evolving artistic installations