How Much do People Spend on Catering in Airports?
Dissertation Writing Help in Consumer Attitudes towards Airport Catering in UK
Key points
●
Families tend to be
the biggest spenders when it comes to airport catering. However, this is as
likely to be due to the number of people involved as it is their enthusiasm for
the food/beverage on offer.
●
Budgeting
restrictions in terms of money already spent on booking the trip and allocated
spending money for the holiday restrict consumer spending on catering in
airports whilst time constraints/concerns once at the airport also continue to
hamper catering expenditure.
●
Disillusionment
with the ‘fast’/’junk’ food on offer is also likely to limit expenditure in
this area.
How much do people spend on catering at airports?
The next question
respondents were asked was:
“Thinking about the last time you visited an airport
terminal, how much did you spend on food and/or drink in total, including
buying for other people?”
FIGURE 27: Spend per
visit, December 2009
Base:
821 adults aged 15+ who eat at airport terminals
|
|
%
|
|
|
|
|
Less than £2
|
4
|
|
£2-4.99
|
12
|
|
£5-7.99
|
21
|
|
£8-9.99
|
13
|
|
£10-14.99
|
20
|
|
£15-19.99
|
12
|
|
£20-24.99
|
10
|
|
£25-29.99
|
4
|
|
£30 or more
|
4
|
|
|
|
|
Don't know
|
2
|
SOURCE:
Ipsos MORI/Mintel
Children drive food/beverage expenditure at airports
●
Consumers
who spend the least on airport catering (up to £4.99) tend to be over-55s, DEs,
retired, widowed/divorced/separated, no children in the household, broadsheet
readers from one-person households.
●
When
they do buy food/beverage at airports they tend to use coffee shops (which are
noted for their accessibility for lone diners), although these consumers tend
not to purchase from airport caterers because they feel it is too expensive.
●
The
biggest spenders (eg £20+) on catering options at airports are more likely to
be 35-44-year-olds, C1C2, families, from Yorkshire/North East, read popular
tabloid, parents aged 35+, household size of five or more, families with 10-15s
and working mothers.
●
High
spenders tend to use coffee shops and fast food, reflecting their demographic
profile, and they tend to think that the quality isn’t very good at airport
catering outlets although it is improving. These consumers also have the
attitude that their holiday starts once they’re at the airport, making them a
particularly lucrative target market for airport caterers.
Key analysis: Overall expenditure on catering at
airports remains relatively low, with the amount spent by the highest spenders
as likely to be bolstered by the sheer size of the family they need to feed as
much as enthusiasm for the food/beverages on offer. Caterers need to ensure
that they are effectively selling the ‘your holiday starts here’ idea so that
passengers see it as part of their overall experience and not just a refuelling
exercise. Promoting this by pushing the idea of pre-flight food/beverage
rituals such as a pie and a pint before a lads’ holiday or afternoon tea prior
to a girls’ weekend away should help this message resonate with consumers.
