Vibe Conference's breakout session, “Crafting Beverage Experiences for Hotels and Airlines,” brought together operators from hotels and airlines to discuss how they are elevating the traditional beverage experience to create loyal customers:
- Marco Bustamante, Vice President of Food & Beverage, Auberge Collection
- Devin Burns, Vice President of Hospitality, JSX Airlines
- David Miller, Corporate Director, Beverage Operations, HEI Hotels
The Captive Audience Trap
The session opened with an uncomfortable truth: having a captive audience is not an advantage if you take it for granted. Airlines and hotels have long operated under the assumption that guests had no choice — and their F&B programs reflected that. Transactional, uninspired, and forgettable.
For chain operators with high-traffic, high-frequency venues, the lesson is the same. Foot traffic is not a strategy. If your program doesn't give guests a reason to engage, you're leaving spend — and loyalty — on the table.
The operators winning now are the ones treating every F&B touchpoint as an opportunity to earn the guest rather than simply serve them.
Burns of JSX Airlines said to consider every detail to avoid being transactional. “Look at the napkin, look at the cup, look at the stir stick, look at what's on the menu. And yes, the customer is going to want something tried and true and recognizable, but have a couple storytellers on the menu,” he said. “Vodka soda is probably still going to be the lead dog on the menu for in-flight, but what else can you do that's fun, that's seasonal, that doesn't take a lot of mixing from the flight attendant?”
He also said airlines should consider the length of the flight, “Some of the routes are twice as long as others. What do we need to do differently for the longer routes versus the shorter routes? Does it need to be more of a fresh food component versus the snack mix? Can there be something more substantial that we can offer?”
Start with Sentiment, Then Build the Menu
Building a beverage menu based on feeling rather than margin or trends is another way hotels and airlines aim to avoid being transactional.
“We actually start with a sentimental feeling: How do we want the guests to feel after they walk away from a beverage experience? Which is a very different way of creating a beverage menu,” said Bustamante of Auberge Collection. If the guest can articulate that feeling after the experience, the program connected.
Familiar + Unique: The Formula That's Actually Working
Familiarity can also go a long way with guests. While it’s true that today’s consumers are more adventurous, offering only new and unfamiliar products can backfire. Miller of HEI Hotels said if 80% of guests don't recognize half the ingredients on your menu, they're going to leave without ordering.
Of course, this doesn't mean dumbing the program down. Instead, it means anchoring innovation in familiarity by pairing it with something known. “If you pair it with something familiar, they're going to be more apt to try that, and it's going to be more successful,” said Miller.
Miller used the example of enhancing a gin martini. It's a recognizable and approachable cocktail on its own, and to make it more innovative, operators should consider the serve—perhaps a freezer door martini or a distinctive garnish presentation? Miller said this approach will make guests remember that drink and the experience surrounding it. Your top sellers are your foundation, but how you present and elevate them is your differentiator.
Staff training can also go a long way in acclimating guests to something new and innovative. “Training the team properly and having them understand what [the new product] is allows them to talk to it and relay that information to the guests,” said Miller.
Operational Complexity Kills Great Ideas
Speaking of training, the panelists all agreed that if a drink is difficult to execute, it won’t lead to success, so planning and communication with your bar team is key.
“Oftentimes, we don't think about the front end of planning. It sounds good, but have you really gone through the full steps of what it takes to build a drink? What are the ingredients? What's the glass? What's the ice? What are the mixtures?” said Burns. “If it's operationally challenging, your team is going to shy away from selling it and shy away from suggesting it.”
Bustamante gave the example of making craft ice. At first glance, it may seem like a great idea, but it becomes difficult to do at volume.
Miller said it’s also important to stay in step with your team by understanding their day-to-day. “If you're not engaged with what execution actually looks like at the property level, you'll build menus that quietly get ignored,” he said.
Data: Surveys, Sales Mix, and the Truth in the Middle
On measuring program performance, the panel said NPS and guest surveys remain the primary KPI for both the airline and hotel segments. However, these surveys can sometimes be skewed as they are often filled out by your biggest fans or your most frustrated guests.
Burns said a more accurate pulse read lies in what your customers are actually buying. “Customers tell you by their buying behavior, their consumption. Check consumption reports, check the sales mix reports,” he said. “That's going to tell you a lot.”
The Bigger Takeaway
Whether you're serving guests at 35,000 feet, in a luxury hotel bar, or at a 30-unit entertainment venue, the fundamentals hold: know how long you have with your guest, design the experience around how you want them to feel, give your team a program they can actually execute, and let the data tell you when to pivot.
The operators winning in these spaces aren't chasing trends. They're building intentional programs and trusting the process.
Keep an eye out for more recaps of our Vibe Conference sessions!
Contact us now to secure your program for the 2027 Vibe Conference:
Elliot Howell, Sales Director, ehowell@questex.com
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