۱- Introduction

۲- Airport branding and the tourist experience

۳- Materials and methods

۴- Results and analysis

۵- Conclusions

References

Abstract

This study examines the passengers perceptions of Tom Jobim International Airport – RIOgaleão branding strategies and its impact to their experiences in light of the airport branding elements proposed by the literature. To achieve these aims it was conducted a semi-structured interview with the airport’s branding manager and a questionnaire with the passengers (n = 92). The findings showed that the airport’s new management company has been employing tourist branding strategies using a mix of elements, but it is possible that these actions have had the main objective of raising the airport to international service standards, whereby the operation of terminals by large companies is a trend. It was also concluded that some of the airport branding elements (i.e. logos and slogans) are well developed and represent a higher impact on passenger experience, while others (i.e. retail pricing strategies) require further attention and new approaches in order to improve passenger experience in the terminal.

Introduction

Tourism is closely linked to transportation. According to Lamb and Davidson (1996), transportation is one of the three fundamental components of tourism, the other two being the tourism product (supply) and the tourism market (demand, or the tourists themselves). Technological innovations in means of transport have been key to the evolution of tourism, with air transport being perhaps the main contributor to the development of tourism in the world (Lohmann et al., 2013; Lohmann & Panosso Netto, 2012). Because of the growing competition among airports for travelers and cargo, airport managers realize the need to invest in innovative and more focused marketing strategies. One of the differentiation strategies adopted by airports is branding. Although this concept is widely discussed in the airport marketing arena, academic studies of airport branding are still rare. Some noteworthy examples of research in this area are the works of Tse (2009) and Castro (2015). The former, an MBA thesis from the University of Calgary, examined the branding of Canadian airports, while the latter, a doctoral thesis from Rio de Janeiro Federal University, investigated airport branding as a tool to promote tourist destinations. Tom Jobim International Airport – RIOgaleão is the gateway to the city of Rio de Janeiro and one of the main airports in Brazil in terms of passengers handled. In April 2014, the expansion, maintenance and operation of the airport were the subject of a privatization auction, and the winning bidder was Consórcio Aeroportos do Futuro, a consortium formed by the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht and the airport operator Changi Airports International from Singapore, acquiring a 51% stake, while Infraero, the Brazilian government’s airport operating company, retained 49% (RIOgaleão, n.d.). Odebrecht sought to sell its share in 2017 following its implication in a corruption scandal involving the Brazilian government. China’s HNA Infrastructure announced that it had acquired control of the airport management company, but it was unable to obtain the requisite authorization from the Chinese government in a timely manner. Thus, all private participation in the airport was ultimately held by Changi Airports (Rittner, 2017). The new management team adopted a commercial vision with a more diversified outlook, treating passengers as customers rather than mere airport users. Thus, the new airport management strives constantly to identify the needs and expectations of customers so they will have pleasant and memorable experiences (Halpern and Graham, 2013).