A Brand Experience Audit, based on passenger experiences at four South African airports, following COVID-19.

Abstract

Covid-19, a phrase known by everyone on this planet. One of the most impacted industries in the world was aviation, which is still reeling from the time where the world was placed on pause, and our lives changed forever. This research seeks to gain understanding of how the passenger journey has been impacted during COVID-19 and how the experience has changed in comparison to prior COVID-19, to seek understanding on why the air travel industry is slow in recovery. By using Interpretivism, the research will unpack the reality of the traveler, based on their individual experiences at the airports. Quantitative, with qualitative open-ended questions were used in the primary research survey to understand the impact on the brands and establish how the brand experience has changed since COVID-19. It is hypothesized that air travelers do not have confidence using the identified airports since COVID-19, as the brand experience has changed negatively. The findings show that that the brand experience has changed negatively at the ACSA owned airports, however, no significant change has been experienced at Lanseria Airport. It further shows that consumers would prefer to have different options and feel forced to make use of certain airports.