Airports Council International (ACI) World has launched a white paper on airport retail to help airports adjust their non-aeronautical (commercial) business strategies to reflect the evolution of the sector and support their long-term sustained recovery.
The Regulatory Threats and Opportunities in Airport Retail white paper is the latest addition to the Non-Aeronautical Revenues and Activities (ANARA) guidance series launched earlier in 2022. The white paper describes some of the major legislative and regulatory threats and opportunities to airport retail and duty free to help airport operators, travel retail operators and policymakers work together to stimulate an increase in sales, investment and sustainable job creation.
The publication has been developed by ACI World’s ANARA sub-committee, which is linked to the ACI World economics standing committee, comprising experts from member airports and world business partners from around the world. The committee’s objective is to investigate, analyze and formulate strategies, policy recommendations, industry positions and guidance material on how best to improve, facilitate and diversify the range of non-aeronautical revenue sources for the benefit of the air transportation ecosystem. The rest of the ANARA series will include the launch of timely guidance in the areas of digital transformation, food and beverage and sustainability.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World, said, “As Covid-19 travel restrictions ease and passenger demand returns, governments and policymakers across the world have an opportunity to leverage airports to stimulate growth and investment by creating an enabling environment for retail and duty free. We encourage relevant aviation stakeholders, including governments, to leverage the new guidance and the entire series, to stay one step ahead of the game as they strengthen the commercial side of the business. The guidance can in turn also help airports and retailers enhance customer experience and service quality.”
The Duty Free World Council (DFWC) welcomed the white paper. Underlining the impact of the pandemic on the duty free and travel retail industry, Sarah Branquinho, the president of the council, commented, “The pandemic has demonstrated the critical role of duty free and travel retail revenues to the broader aviation and travel industries. The cooperation between airports and concessionaires in working together to navigate the difficulties leaves all parties in a stronger position to face future challenges and to embrace the opportunities that we all now have as passengers return to airports and the airport retail experience.”
To find out more about ACI’s ANARA guidance, read Passenger Terminal World’s feature here.