Editor’s Note: Airport Experience News recently announced the launch of the AX Next Gen Collective, an advisory group created to amplify the voices of emerging leaders in the North American airport concessions industry. Over the coming year, the 12 professionals selected for the AXNGC will share their perspectives on the trends, opportunities, and challenges shaping our industry. They’ll also help guide the AXN team by providing insights into how the next generation of industry leaders consumes media and engages with content.
Over the next 12 weeks, the AXN NewsFlash will feature short features on each member. Austin Barry, airport concessions manager at Tampa International Airport (TPA), shared his insights with AXN’s Sarah Beling.
Beling: How did you land in the airport concessions industry?
Barry: I feel as though very few of us expect to be working in airports when we start our careers. After I graduated from college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was working for Chick-fil-A at the time and grew within the company from cashier to marketing director. My operator sat me down one day and said there is more to slinging chicken, go out and see the world. That day, I left and started applying to multiple jobs. The airport had an opening in the guest experience department. I applied, got the job, then COVID hit. Operations slowed, and my work came to a standstill. I was eager to continue to grow, and later that same month a position opened in the concessions department. That was early 2020, six years later, and I still believe it’s one of the best decisions I ever made.
Beling: What are you doing now (and how did you get there)?
Barry: When I joined the concessions department at TPA, I was the compliance specialist. Later that year, I was promoted to manager, and just last year, I was promoted to airport concessions manager. My role currently is manager of airport concessions. I’m responsible for business development, contract compliance, security operations, annual business reviews and airport pricing.
Beling: What area of the airport concessions sector would you like to explore in the future?
Barry: Technology is such a big conversation, especially with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). I feel like we all talk about multiple different data points, surveys, articles, and trends. It’s a challenge to keep up with all the data to understand the business. We haven’t fully gone down the road, but we have started asking questions on how we might be able to utilize AI and gain perspective on things we may not have thought of.
Beling: How do you predict the airport concessions sector will evolve to serve younger generations of travelers?
Barry: At TPA, we have a wide demographic of passengers. We have a saying: We want to be high tech, high touch and allow the passenger to choose their journey. If a customer would like to sit down and enjoy a lengthy meal, they have that option, but there is also an option to grab it to go to eat somewhere else or on the plane. I see our younger passengers gravitate to a faster experience, but they also want to have that experiential component as well. Blending both speed of serve and experiential is a challenge, but I believe this will be a trend that will continue. We have started researching what that looks like, and it could be a gourmet market, food hall, DIY dining, farm to table or simplistic dining [concept]. As a millennial myself, I know that a huge component for me is where my food comes from and the simplicity of food. Having greater transparency with food, where it came from, and how it’s handled, is a growing trend within the restaurant world.
Beling: What is your favorite airport concession (restaurant, bar, store, amenity) and why?
Barry: I can’t pass up a great airport bar. A bar with views to the airfield, outlets and lounge-type seating is a happy place for me.
