My Airport as a Gateway

Airports facilitate economic activity by bringing visitors, and their spending, to the airport region. For those arriving by air, the airport is the first point of contact with the region. Airport professionals can work with representatives of local convention and visitors bureaus, major event centers, and transportation providers to promote easy access from the airport to visitors’ final destinations. This integration includes both the availability of information online and at the airport, and the quality of ground access to and from the airport. Airport connectivity plays a role not only in the experience of visitors to a region (and thus the image of the region as communicated to others), but also in the initial selection process of destinations for tourists and planners of conventions or meetings (corporate or otherwise).

Under tools is a guide for collaboration with community stakeholders to highlight your airport as an asset within destination marketing and event recruitment efforts. Coordination on issues of tourism can follow a range of tactics from providing information to implementing targeted marketing efforts. Below are a number of illustrative examples that may help begin the discussion in your community:

  • The MML campaign was a partnership between two convention and visitors bureaus in California, the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, and a lodge in Sequoia National Park. The partners worked together to develop an itinerary for travelers to visit three national parks (Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Park) in three days. The partnership is viewed as mutually beneficial because it serves to increase passenger traffic at the airport, the number of visitors to national parks, and economic activity supported by tourism in the region.
  • The CVB works closely with personnel at the Palm Springs International Airport to help overcome identified perceptions about lack of air service for Greater Palm Springs. Strategies are detailed in the CVB’s 2015 Business Development Plan. This includes providing detailed air service and routing information on the bureau’s Getting Here and Around website, communicating frequently with meeting planners about upgrades and service improvements at the airport, and even managing a program where the bureau will fly meeting planners to the airport at the bureau’s expense to demonstrate the ease of access (“You fly, we buy”).
  • The San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau advertises quick airport access as a convenience factor for visitors that differentiates it from other major metropolitan areas. The San Antonio International Airport Ambassador Volunteer Program is a program staffed by volunteers wearing cowboy hats ready to offer information not only about the airport, but also about hotels, attractions, transportation, and the San Antonio area in general.
  • The Marketing Manager at the Vancouver Airport Authority sits on the board of Richmond, British Columbia’s destination marketing organization “Tourism Richmond,” which views collaboration with the airport as key to the organization’s success in marketing Richmond as a destination to leisure travelers, meeting planners, travel media and organizations that influence travel.
  • The Boston Convention center advertises “the fastest airport-to-convention center times in the country” and argues that Boston’s accessibility will help meeting planners attract additional attendees.
  • Fredericksburg, TX is an example of a community that considers its general aviation airport as integral to its community access and as a hub for visitor activity. Visit Fredericksburg publishes a meeting planner brochure that includes information on the very first page about private aircraft access at Gillespie County Airport. The airport is also the center of a cluster of amenities including the Hangar Hotel designed to look like a WWII hangar, the Airport Conference Center, a diner, a park with extensive recreational facilities (Olympic pool, various sports courts & fields), and the Gillespie County Fairgrounds.
  • The Spokane International Airport maintains a web page on area attractions with direct links to the Visit Spokane website. Visit Spokane also maintains an Airport Visitor Information Desk right near baggage claim staffed by “Travel Counselors” to help visitors plan their time in the Spokane area.

This topic focuses in general terms on how airports function as gateways for visitors. The next topic, My Airport as an Intermodal Hub, addresses more specifically issues of ground transportation connections to the airport, both for passengers and freight.

Resources

  • World Economic Forum: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013

    Presents an in-depth comparative analysis of travel and tourism competitiveness globally, including an assessment of air transportation infrastructure.

  • ACRP Report 52 Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside

    A resource to help airports with wayfinding and signing strategies for both terminals and ground transportation. Offers guidance on how to develop wayfinding based on a circulation analysis for different kinds of passengers (i.e. Where does that person start? Where are they going? What information do they require, and in what sequence?).

    Addresses tourist specific information including signage and interactive kiosks with information on tourist attractions, hotels, and ground transportation options. Section 5.4, Ground Transportation addresses signage related to Ground Transportation. Section 7.2.27, Flight Information Kiosks addresses multi-use kiosks.

  • ACRP Report 132 The Role of U.S. Airports in the National Economy

    Chapter 4, National Economic Impact of Airports in the NPIAS, has a section addressing the value of international visitor spending to the U.S. economy.

  • South Dakota State Aviation System Plan 2010-2030

    Section 6.6, Visitor Spending discusses the role of South Dakota airports in supporting tourism in the state, including specific support for major generators of tourism dollars in the state, namely pheasant hunting and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Tools

  • Outreach and Recruitment – Your Airport as an Asset

    The diagram in this tool suggests a series of steps for working with stakeholders in your community to make sure there is adequate information about your airport and its services are available as part of general outreach and marketing materials.