May 16 (Reuters) - With hundreds of millions of

passengers streaming through its more than 5,100 outlets

worldwide, Switzerland's Avolta is quietly amassing a

vast "data lake" which it is increasingly using to fine-tune and

expand its retail business.

One such insight, Avolta Chief Executive Xavier Rossinyol

told Reuters on Thursday, is that the number one spirit now

being bought by travellers from India is tequila, while

traditionally they were expected to favour whisky or cognac.

While the ability to track what passengers at airports from

China to Canada and other tourist locations are spending their

money on, either on food and drink or shopping, has not yet

turned Avolta into a "data company", it is heading in that

direction, Rossinyol said in an interview.

"Ask me the question again in two years, and probably the

answer will be different if things work like they are in our

head," said Rossinyol, after Avolta posted quarterly turnover of

2.83 billion Swiss francs ($3.14 billion).

Avolta, the re-named group which emerged from the

combination of Dufry and Italy's Autogrill, feeds the

information into a "data lake" using Microsoft ( MSFT )

software, but without outsourcing any of the proprietary data.

Rossinyol said the Basel-based company is working to combine

the data it has with that of its partners, mainly airports as

well as with the major brands it deals with on a global level.

"Sometimes they have a vertical understanding because they

understand very well what happens at their airport, but not

necessarily globally," said Rossinyol, whose company offers

brands ranging from Hugo Boss to Coca-Cola.

Rossinyol is also looking to increase Avolta's conversion

rate by creating experiences to engage the 70% of airport

passengers who do not spend money in its outlets.

"Some people go with children and might be buying something

in the shop where you have something entertaining, a clown or a

magician because then it entertains the people and they can

shop. So this business is absolutely fascinating," he said.

While geopolitical tensions around the world may have local

impacts, Rossinyol said that Avolta's business was largely

insulated from situations such as the Middle East conflict.

"If there is a crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean, they

(holidaymakers) go to the Western Mediterranean," he added.

Meanwhile, events such as the Paris Olympics and the Euro

soccer championships were not expected to lead to any

significant change in the number of travellers using Avolta's

shops, bars and restaurants.

Rossinyol also sees a "positive trend" of recovery in the

number of Chinese travellers venturing abroad, although some of

their destinations have changed since before the pandemic.

Earlier this week, Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport

said it expects Chinese passengers figures to reach

pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.

($1 = 0.9019 Swiss francs)