Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is looking for 5 innovative concepts to promote in the businesses located in its terminals

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport has decided to boost its offer and is actively seeking out new concepts through a triple call for tenders, to take effect on 1st April 2024, ready for the start of the next summer season.
The first is for a retail activity specialised in the sale of internationally-recognised high-end pastries inspired by French gastronomy. Two spaces are earmarked for the activity, one in each Schengen boarding area (13 sq. m in Terminal 1 and 24 sq. m in Terminal 2), so they are accessible to all passengers regardless of destination. The contract will be drawn up for six years.
The second call for tender concerns food and drink, focusing on the concept of high-end street food. It has to be radically different from the outlet already available in Terminal 2, evoking travel and exotic experiences: a mix of sweet and savoury delights. The 43 sq. m space set aside for the new outlet is located in the Terminal 2 check-in area. The contract will be drawn up for four years and one month.
The third call for tenders will be for two pop-up stores, located landside. With a truly innovation-driven approach, drawing on retail, food and drink or service concepts, the two pop-up spaces will offer attractive conditions for brands looking to try out their markets among airport customers. This tender, which fits with the airport’s strategy of regularly adapting to passengers’ new consumption trends, will put forward a unique, innovative, surprising yet very high-quality offer that promotes the iconic sense of place associated with the French Riviera. The concepts in question may involve food and drink with an Organic, Vegan or Healthy edge, a VMI store, a second-hand shop, a store selling locally crafted products, or any other new product category not yet available at Nice Airport. Initiated in 2012, the pop-up stores strategically located in the centre of the airport terminals have already benefited some 70 brands that have been able to test out and develop their offers to gain market share, some before growing into franchises. Located landside, the spaces will be rented out for a two-year period.

An exceptional promotional opportunity

For the brands that will be selected at the end of the call for tenders, Nice Côte d'Azur Airport will provide a unique showcase. Totally redesigned in recent years, the bright, airy terminals offering a smooth passenger journey resulted in the airport being elected Best Commercial Airport Operator in the world in 2018.

Passenger traffic, which stood at 12 million last year, is set to return to pre-pandemic levels very quickly, rising to 14.5 million passengers. Of those passengers, 60% are visitors and 44% are foreign passengers, 35% of whom are Europeans and 5% Americans. 51% of passengers are women - a proportion that has been on the rise over the last few years. The 35-54 age group accounts for 37% of passenger traffic. Finally, over 51% of those travelling through the airport are high-income passengers.

With an unprecedented offer of 116 direct destinations for summer 2023, nearly 100 of which are foreign destinations, and 11 long-haul routes (Atlanta, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Montreal, New York, Newark, Montreal and Riyadh), Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is the number one alternative to the Paris-based hubs. Furthermore, thanks to its location virtually in the city centre and its quick and direct connection to Nice by tram, shops located landside welcome increasing numbers of non-travelling customers who live or work nearby, accentuating the airport's attraction as a shopping centre.

A "sense of place" approach

For the Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur group, these temporary sales areas actively support its strategy of "giving travellers the most surprising shopping experience of all Europe’s airports". Central to this strategy is the notion of "sense of place". It means that businesses, in particular pop-up stores, must provide passengers with a differentiating, non-standard offer, conveying the values and know-how of the surrounding region.

"Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is intended to serve as a link between the Riviera and the rest of the world. More than a showcase, for young brands it provides a laboratory in which to test their identity, territory and environment in order to recruit new customers, and even ambassadors. We see this as a stepping stone, since we provide comprehensive support and promotion for these brands to our passengers to support their visibility and performance," explains Candice Cadreils, director of the commercial BU of Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur.

The terms of the calls for tenders

The calls for tenders are published on 5 July 2023, and all tenders must be submitted before 4 pm on 15 September 2023.
To participate, simply register and create an account to download the tender documents at:

https://achats.nice.aeroport.fr/autres-consultations/2023-aot-pop-up

https://achats.nice.aeroport.fr/autres-consultations/2023-aot-street-food

https://achats.nice.aeroport.fr/autres-consultations/2023-aot-vente-patisserie-de-luxe