The Challenge
Parking is the largest non-aeronautical revenue stream for many airports. At one U.S. airport with three parking locations, leadership lacked clarity on why travelers chose ride share, taxis, shuttles, or drop-offs instead of on-site parking.
Issues surfaced:
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Under-used hourly areas → revenue leakage
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Brand confusion (“only the garage is official parking”)
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Limited insight into pricing perceptions, product preferences, and decision factors
The Objective
Partner with Confero to:
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Understand traveler decision-making (parking vs. Uber/Lyft/shuttles)
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Identify expectations for pricing, branding, and convenience
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Provide evidence to shape new parking products
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Align engineering, marketing, parking, and concessions around traveler-led insights
Our Approach
Confero delivered a multi-method CX research program:
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Focus Groups: Leisure, business, and mixed-purpose travelers
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Customer Surveys: Pricing expectations, brand perceptions, product appeal
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Intercepts & Mystery Shopping: In-terminal, real-time traveler feedback
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Iterative Testing: Additional groups to refine branding and product concepts
Findings were shared across parking leadership and cross-functional teams to drive consistent, traveler-centric decisions.
The Results
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New Parking Products: Converted an under-used lot into a mid-range “hybrid” option
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Online Pre-Booking: Launched advance reservation + built an email database for loyalty and cross-marketing
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Clearer Branding: Unified shuttle lots and terminal garages under one official parking brand
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Loyalty & Revenue Growth: Even premium parkers shifted behavior for certain trip types → targeted offers increased utilization
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Airport-Wide Impact: Insights also informed concessions strategy and future loyalty/rewards linking parking with F&B/retail
The Success
Traveler-led research enabled a parking portfolio redesign that improved utilization, clarity, and revenue—while aligning multiple departments around a single source of truth.
Key Takeaway
Confero helps airports translate traveler insights into revenue-ready parking strategies—from pricing and branding to pre-booking and loyalty integration.
Note: this work was recognized as a finalist for the Research and Insights Award..
