James Thong, Senior Vice President, Changi Airports International, Singapore

Speaker Biograghy: James has more than 18 years of airport commercial management and planning experience, both in Singapore Changi Airport and overseas (India, China, Russia, Brazil, Middle East). In his current CAI capacity as Lead Consultant, James manages the commercial elements of CAI’s overseas airport investments and consultancy projects. He is currently active as Owner’s Advisor to CAI’s associate companies: i) Basel Aero. Besides resolving the non-aero strategic and operational issues, he was directly involved in structuring a long-term retail joint venture between Dufry and Basel Aero, and has been the Board Director cum Chairman of the retail joint venture since 2013. ii) Aeroporto Rio De Janeiro SA. He is involved as a member of the Commercial Committee, which helps shareholders oversee the overall commercial strategy development and operator selection process of the management team.


Day 3 - 12 March
Session: Commercial Development, Concessions, Retail & Media

09:35 - 10:05 - Maximising airport commercial potential with up-to-date market research
Synopsis: Consumer tastes and shopping behaviours can be highly fickle. Whatever is a highly popular brand today can be easily abandoned by consumers within three to five years. Passenger profiles can also change significantly over time in any airport. Instead of trying to accurately predict the future retail trends today, airports may be better off ‘future-proofing’ their airport retail offer by having an ongoing market research mechanism to constantly track spending patterns, both inside and outside the airport. In-depth market research, such as passenger surveys and focus groups, is needed to find out the changing needs and wants of passengers.

Audience will learn: