[Presentation] Driving Results from the Connected “Foodie” Traveller — FAB Awards 2013

Last week, SimpliFlying was invited by The Moodie Report to present at the third annual Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Awards and Conference held at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. On behalf of SimpliFlying, I delivered a keynote and moderated a panel on “The Digital Dynamic and Age of the Connected Traveller: Best practice in the virtual world”.

Leverage the Connected Traveller’s interaction with food

Food is an integral part of travel and today’s Connected Traveller interacts with food in radical and exciting new ways — food is not just eaten, but photographed, stored for memories and shared with friends via online networks. Many thousands of food photographs on multiple social networks are testimony to this phenomenon.

The lesson is simple: airports and retailers must understand the behaviour of the traveller today, connected as he or she is on the move to thousands of people via a combination of smart-devices, internet and social networks. This new behaviour can then be harnessed in multiple ways, as I’ve shown in the presentation: through advocacy, social-sharing and real-time customer service.

Ideas for the future

After covering the current state of play, I proposed that airports and retailers be mindful of three trends that will shape the current landscape over the coming months: digital integration and mobile apps; location-based deals and virtual shopping. However, the audience seemed the most invigorated when I presented a few radical ideas to harness the digital revolution: QR Codes and Stock Photos of food; Food Paparazzi and Superstars and Food Loyalty Programs. If you find any of these ideas interesting, I would be happy to tell you more about my vision for them. Meanwhile, you can find the presentation below.

If you’re an airport, travel or food retailer and would like to discuss the ideas outlined in the presentation at FAB Awards 2013 in more detail, please drop me a line at shubhodeep@simpliflying.com.

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