Airports have long relied on operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as dwell time, spend per passenger (SPP), average ticket value (ATV), check-in throughput, or security screening time. While these metrics offer valuable insights into performance and passenger flow, they tell only part of the story.
They measure what happens, but not how passengers feel while it happens.
A travelers might spend 45 minutes in the commercial area, but was that time a moment of relaxed browsing or stressful waiting? Two people can experience identical dwell times yet walk away with very different emotions: one cared for, the other frustrated.
Emotional conversion: Measuring the shift in passenger feelings
Emotions are the true currency of experience. They determine whether passengers feel genuinely welcomed as guests or processed as numbers in a queue.
Emotional conversion describes how passengers' feelings evolve throughout their airport journey.
Think of a passenger initially anxious about tight connections who leaves feeling reassured and cared for because staff were proactive and empathetic. These shifts from stress to calm, from frustration to reassurance, or from tension to comfort are the essence of emotional conversion.
Measuring this transformation is critical. It moves us from purely operational success to experience success as the true indicator of guest treatment, capturing how well the airport connects with passengers on a human level.
