In travel retail, there are always two versions of the same idea: the one discussed in meetings, and the one actually experienced by travellers. Across the travel retail and F&B ecosystem, the distance between the two is often wider than we admit.
Strategy lives in presentations and plans. Reality lives on the shop floor; it is in the behaviour of teams, the reactions of travellers, and the decisions they make in seconds as they pass through a terminal.
And reality has a habit of ignoring theory.
Travel retail rarely lacks ambition. We talk about experience and exclusivity. We talk about transparency, data, customer centricity.
But too often these ideas remain conceptual.
Exclusivity becomes a badge applied to a familiar product. Experience becomes screens and installations rather than service. Data sharing becomes a strategic ambition that stalls the moment practical questions arise.
Travel retail rarely lacks ambition. We talk about experience and exclusivity. But too often these ideas remain conceptual.
The language often evolves faster than execution. When that happens, strategy starts sounding stronger than the reality passengers actually experience.
The truth is that reality is measured in-store. At the point of sale. Or at the ensuing engagement with the brand. The most important thing is to close the gap between ambition and performance.
Because customers do not interact with strategy. They interact with people and environments. They interact with the actual experience delivered in that moment. That is where the truth lives.
Consider the industry’s ongoing conversation around data sharing. It is widely discussed as a priority. The rhetoric is clear: collaboration is improving, information is flowing more freely, and partnerships are becoming more sophisticated.
Customers do not interact with strategy. They interact with people and environments. They interact with the actual experience delivered in that moment.
Yet recent research conducted with our partners suggested a much weaker reality. Fewer than 20% of respondents felt that meaningful progress had actually been made. So once again, the narrative appears to be moving faster than the actual industry practice.
Reality rarely aligns with the narrative we tell ourselves, and passengers experience travel retail in its rawest form: They see stores that look increasingly similar from airport to airport. They encounter staff who are under pressure or insufficiently prepared to engage. They check prices on their phones while standing in front of the shelf.
The traveller does not see the strategic discussions happening behind the scenes. They see only what is delivered in front of them. And their judgement is immediate.
The result of that judgement is not good at the moment. That is the reality. The industry often points to passenger growth as proof of resilience. But the underlying signals are more revealing. Passenger numbers may rise, yet average spend tells a more cautious story. Revenue increases driven purely by volume do not reflect stronger engagement.
The traveller does not see the strategic discussions happening behind the scenes. They see only what is delivered in front of them. And their judgement is immediate.
More travellers moving through terminals does not automatically mean stronger retail performance. If anything, it raises the stakes. Because when traffic increases but conversion weakens, the underlying issue is rarely demand. It is relevance.
Travel retail should remain an aspirational industry: Big ideas matter. Innovation matters. Ambition matters. But ideas only become valuable once they survive contact with reality. That requires discipline. Measurement. Honest assessment. The willingness to admit when an initiative is not working and adapt accordingly.
Strategy does not prove itself in presentations. It proves itself in execution. And in travel retail, execution is immediate, visible and constantly tested by reality.
Theory may shape the vision. But reality decides the outcome.