EVENT NEWS: THE TRINITY FORUM
Diageo’ s Jacobson added:“ We are proud to have participated in and contributed to this first multifaceted Trinity project. We have certainly learned some key lessons.
“ First, such an undertaking requires strong leadership with clear decision making authority. Secondly, it calls for a specific and measurable outcome grounded in a proposition that resonates for the traveller – and, which each of the partners can buy into from the start.
“ And finally, staying resolute to the possibility requires a commitment to the vision, patience, and strong relationships.
Other topics on the table during the two-day event included whether airports and their partners were doing enough to deliver a‘ sense of place’, and the importance of benchmarking airport commercial revenues and service quality.
ACI’ s director of economics and programme development, Rafael Echevarne, told delegates that ACI’ s annual Airport Service Quality( ASQ) survey shows that airports can boost retail / F & B revenues by getting the simple things right such as the cleanliness of toilets and ambience of terminal buildings.
He also revealed:“ Most passengers have no intention of buying anything at an airport, but they don’ t make a purchase because they cannot find what they want.
“ They are actually happier with the service they get in shops than the products in them. This is something that airports need to think about.”
He closed by reminding retailers and F & B providers not to forget the potential of small airports.
Other contributions included a rallying cry from OTG Management’ s CEO, Rick Blatstein, for the industry to be“ spectacular” and use interactive technology to innovate, while a lively and highly entertaining presentation from SimpliFlying’ s CEO, Shashank Nigam, left airports in no doubt that they would miss out on revenue and passengers if they failed to embrace social media.
Also making a plea was Dag Rasmussen, president and CEO of Lagardère Services, who called for the establishment of a new educational platform where airports, retailers and suppliers could
be trained about how to operate in an industry where close co-operation and understanding between all three stakeholders is a necessity.
In line with this, he told delegates that they had to keep the Trinity ideals top of mind and work with each other throughout the year and not just at the annual conference. He labelled the new mentality needed as‘ Trinity 365’.
Arguably aviation’ s most prestigious global travel retail conference, the event is jointly organised by The Moodie Report and ACI World.
Reflecting on the tenth Trinity Forum, host and founder, Martin Moodie, admitted:“ We have come an incredibly long way on this journey, but there is clearly a lot more to be done.”
In other news from the Trinity Forum, ADAC announced that it had signed a five-year contract with Duty Free Shoppers( DFS) to manage and operate Abu Dhabi Duty Free, until the end of 2017.
And, although not retail related, ACI announced that ADAC had become the latest airport to join its Airport Excellence( APEX) in Safety programme.
At a press conference held at The Trinity Forum, ACI director general, Angela Gittens, said:“ We are delighted to have ADAC on board. The ultimate goal of the programme is to improve safety. This is done by collaborating with other industry partners in a peer review process to identify and resolve any vulnerabilities and sharing data and best practices.”
Earlier, Gittens had presented Airport Service Quality( ASQ) Assured awards to ADAC and Dammam’ s King Fahd International Airport.
It certainly was an action packed Trinity Forum, and next year’ s event promises to be even more exciting with the event hosting ACI’ s ASQ Awards for the first time. Where do we sign up?
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AIRPORT WORLD / FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013