Gower Smith

The proposition looks simple: high foot traffic, captive audiences, premium margins. What's less obvious is how the business moves. It doesn't move fast. Airport and travel concessions is a small industry, and it runs on relationships as much as it runs on RFPs. A Growing Piece of a Bigger Priority Concessions aren't an airport's top priority. Airport management exists first to safely keep planes flying and people moving through terminals. Operations and safety come before anything else. But...

Insights from ACI-NA & ACI World 2025 — where airport leaders are shaping the future of passenger experience. By Gower Smith The conference took place in late October 2025, during an ongoing U.S. government shutdown, a backdrop that highlighted the industry’s resilience and operational maturity. Despite senior airport executives being away at the event and the Federal Government shutdown, air travel across the United States continued largely without disruption. In contrast to earlier...

In a world that is rapidly changing, the concept of an autonomous economy is becoming more than just a dream. It is a reality that is unfolding before our eyes. Imagine a future where technology seamlessly integrates into our daily lives, making everything more efficient and convenient. This is the promise of the autonomous economy, and Autonomous Alliance is at the forefront of this transformation. The autonomous economy is built on the principles of automation, artificial intelligence, and...