b'66 SFO CONCESSIONSPHOTO: AIRPORT TRAVEL AGENCYsuitcase, $35 per hour for a golf bag and $40 to store a bicycleIn the 2022/2023 fiscal year, SFO served 47 million for 24 hours. A small, basic nap room from Freshen Up costspassengers, which was 82% of pre-pandemic levels. This $150 for three hours, or $245 for overnight stays in lieu of apast September, nearly 41,500 passengers came through the hotel. The price for a 30-minute shower is $30, and includesInternational Terminal each day, and many encountered Davis soap, shampoo, a towel, shower shoes, etc. Military membersbusinesses.and SFO employees can shower for half-off.Yakel considers the price points in line with industry norms.The Beat Goes OnThis is a business that primarily caters to international travelers,Traffic trends at SFO and other airports are a sign of positive he explains. Its a customer base that sees the value of whatchange. And change is something to which Davis is attuned. For hes providing. example, he reports that there are still plenty of business travelers, but not quite as many as before the pandemic. Yakel and El Gord both note that doing business at SFO, or anywhere in San Francisco, is not cheap. City codes andIn recent months, Davis had noticed an increased number ordinances stipulate an $18.07 per hour minimum wage,of families traveling with infants as people become more and require most employers to provide health insurance forcomfortable with international travel after the pandemic. He employees. Despite the extra costs of doing business, Davisconsequently started renting infant car seats for tourists, and happily reports that his companies are holding their own. is kicking the tires on other possible new services. Im always looking and thinking, trying to come up with different ideas, he The continued success of Airport Travel Agency and other SFOcomments. concessions is a marker of the airports continued recovery from the massive challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,Whatever changes may come, the multi-service concessions which hit SFO and its volume-driven tenants hard. Daviscompany will continue working to find a way to say Yes! to employees were declared essential workers, and his businesscustomer requests, no matter how routine or unusual they are. stayed open, serving as a beacon of sorts for passengers andAnd that means a lot to SFO. staff who were at the airport while the pandemic raged.When we benchmark ourself against other major international Yakel notes that SFO supported all 135 of its concessionsairports, one of the things we look at is rich features and tenants by offering a COVID-related rent relief program thatamenitiesa wide variety of services available for passengers to began in March 2020 and has so far amounted to $51.5 million.meet many different needs, says Yakel. Linard Davis services With the pandemic now waning and airport operations gettingare very much in this vein.back to normal, the subsidy program is scheduled to expire inIn Davis view, its all about the fundamentals: What we do is December 2025. a needed service, he says. More airports need to get on board and fill the customers needs. January | February 2024AirportImprovement.com'