SOUTH AMERICA. South American Duty Free Association ASUTIL has deployed Swiss research agency m1nd-set’s data tool Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) to share with members as an aid to boosting their recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
m1ndset is partnering with various travel retail associations in a bid to support the sector’s return to growth with both traffic and shopping behaviour insights from the B1S.
The quarterly monitor reports will be provided free of charge to all interested regional trade associations. Members are able to view a summary of the key traffic trends and relevant shopper trends for the top nationalities travelling through their respective regions.
“There has seldom been a greater need for data as now; all stakeholders in the region will be keen to understand how both traffic and shopping behaviour will evolve in the weeks and months ahead” – ASUTIL Secretary General José Luis Donagaray
The report data will include regional passenger numbers and year-on-year growth data from 2019 and projected traffic up to 2023, a focus on the top destinations from the region in 2019 and the top ten nationalities and airports in a specific region for 2021. What m1ndset claims will be shopping behaviour insights of the top four nationalities in a region together with key post-COVID shopping behaviour insights will be offered.
ASUTIL is among the first of the regional associations to adopt the monitor. The Q1 report for Latin America reveals that international departures from the region fell by over -68% year-on-year in 2020, from 115.7 million passengers to 36.7 million. Growth from that low base is expected to be steady in 2021, which will see a +38.5% increase in outbound traffic. 2022 will be more positive again, with a forecast of +74% growth and 88 million departures. 2019 traffic levels will be reached and surpassed in 2023, when outbound flights are forecast to grown by +37.5% reaching 121 million departing passengers.
The B1S LATAM recovery monitor highlights shopper insights from the top four travelling nationalities through the region: from the US, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, showing both key trends for each nationality pre-COVID and post-COVID shopping intentions. Just under three quarters of travellers from the region say they plan to travel again within the first six months after restrictions are lifted. Of those, however, three out of four will reduce both their business and leisure-related travel, compared to before the pandemic.
About six out of ten travellers from the region have cut expenses and spend less on a daily basis since the COVID-19 pandemic, while 55% spend more time watching videos and tutorial online, for example on YouTube. Around one quarter would opt to shop online for their duty free and pick up at the boarding gate or on arrival if the service is offered. The majority (64%) of shoppers will not be concerned about interaction with sales staff and will continue to engage with sales advisors, albeit taking precautions.
m1nd-set owner and CEO Peter Mohn commented: “We have been working very closely with all the major regional trade associations for many years now, so we feel it is important to show our solidarity with them and their members in these difficult times. Positive news of the vaccine being rolled out in a growing number of countries is spreading optimism and we are seeing a significant spike in demand for the B1S recovery data among many of our major clients, as they plan ahead for the coming months.”
ASUTIL Secretary General José Luis Donagaray added: “ASUTIL endeavours to provide regular and relevant insights to our members through our events and insights. There has seldom been a greater need for data as now; all stakeholders in the region will be keen to understand how both traffic and shopping behaviour will evolve in the weeks and months ahead. We have worked with m1nd-set for almost a decade and this partnership approach is testimony to their continued strong work ethic and sincerely appreciated by all of us at ASUTIL.”
NOTE: ASUTIL is partnering with International Association of Airport and Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) and The Moodie Davitt Report to host Summit of the Americas – a Virtual Experience on 5-9 April, a key event in the recovery of travel retail across the Americas. Click here for information and/or to register.
