Stating the bleeding obvious airports, airlines, and the connected travel retail eco sector is one of those that has been decimated more so than the traditional High St or the Mall during this pandemic. 

We've all been living in a heightened sense of anxiety, the last time I was as acutely aware of this was post 9/11 when every airport around the world came to a grinding halt overnight and we all secretly asked ourselves the question - "do I really need to travel"

For most people in the northern hemisphere just starting to surface out of the enforced 'safe' bubble of endless national lockdowns and restrictions with Covid and testing we are seeing many people focused on not only on going out, but also the possibility of getting that well earned foreign holiday with the family.

Having seen footfall decimated to unprecedented levels throughout this pandemic due to lack of passengers, combined with the every Government's version of 'travel corridor' hokey cokey, not only has it proven to be an extremely difficult time it's also shone a very bright light on a sector that very rarely communicates with itself, let alone think 'traveller first'..

In 2021, air passenger numbers globally totaled 4.6 billion, only half the 2019 level, according to data from the Airports Council International. Airlines aren’t the only ones feeling the pain. Switzerland-based Dufry, one of the world’s biggest duty-free businesses, said in its latest quarterly results that sales are still down 44% compared with the same period of 2019. source WSJ.com

The airport luxury boutique became a staple of the pre-pandemic travel boom. But unless it genuinely innovates in favour of the traveller thinking about travel it may be heading for the departure gate.

I don't know about you but as international travel looks likely to to open back up can we anticipate that this globally connected business sector has used this time to reinvent things in favour of you and me - the traveller?

Travel retailer DFS is one of many brands electing to do more than sit on their hands and wait for others to solve the problem.

 The event, held on 18 August 2020, was conducted as an hour-long Flash Sale streamed over WeChat and featured some of the most sought-after beauty and cosmetics products. Hosted in T Galleria by DFS, Tsimshatsui East, it generated more than 50,000 views, over 30,000 likes, nearly 6,000 comments, 12,000 product click-throughs and 2,500 shares.

60%+ of the world's population is on one social platform or another - instead of advertising, or getting the guy with the beard, or the girl with the tattoo in marketing to keep posting your corporate message (no one reads them BTW) how about experimenting with 'live streaming'.

Do you know of any western brand doing this with the same level of success as DFS and others in the east?