How Scent Can Transform the Event Experience
When event planners think about creating a memorable experience, they often focus on what attendees can see and hear. Lighting, décor, staging, music, signage, and entertainment all play an important role.
But what about scent?
At Connect Marketplace 2026 in Tampa, Air Esscentials President Spence Levy sat down with Trade Show News Network to discuss how fragrance can help shape the atmosphere of an event, influence the way a space feels, and create a more immersive experience for attendees.
CLICK TO WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW
In the interview, Levy explained that Air Esscentials created three different scent experiences for Connect Marketplace itself. Grapefruit Vanilla greeted attendees at the reception, White Tea was used in conference areas, and Aegean Summer was selected for meeting rooms overlooking Tampa Bay. Each fragrance was chosen to complement the setting and the experience event organizers wanted to create.
“We wanted everybody to be excited and comforted at the same time as they walk through the door.”
Scent Adds Another Dimension to Event Design
Levy told TSNN that scent is especially powerful because of its connection to memory and emotion. Rather than simply making a venue smell pleasant, scent can become another tool event planners use to support the mood, theme, and overall environment.
“Out of all of our senses, scent taps right into our emotions.”
That opens the door to much more creative applications.
Air Esscentials has created a signature scent for the JCK Luxury event in Las Vegas and scented the entire trade show floor. At the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, the company worked with the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management on an immersive vineyard experience built directly on Miami Beach, where the scent of red wine accompanied attendees as they walked through the installation.
The possibilities extend beyond traditional fragrance choices. Levy described projects involving burnt rubber for racing events, themed scents for amusement attractions, and even different fragrances introduced during a speaker's presentation to complement specific parts of the story.
Matching Scent to the Experience
The key is not simply choosing a fragrance that smells good.
According to Levy, Air Esscentials considers the colors, environment, desired emotion, and overall experience before selecting a scent. The goal is to make fragrance part of a larger multisensory experience rather than an isolated element.
That might mean choosing something bright and energizing for one environment, something warm and welcoming for another, or selecting a fragrance that directly reinforces an event's theme.
For planners who have never considered scent before, the process may also be more accessible than expected.
“It's a lot easier than people think.”
Levy noted that the scope of an event, square footage, duration, and number of scent changes all help determine the equipment and investment required. The same technology can be used for everything from a hotel lobby to a large convention floor.
An Opportunity Event Planners May Be Overlooking
One of the most interesting parts of the interview is Levy's observation that, despite Air Esscentials having worked in event scenting for nearly two decades, many planners he meets still have not considered fragrance as part of their event design.
That may be exactly why scent has so much potential.
When attendees already expect impressive visuals, creative food and beverage, and polished production, fragrance can provide an additional sensory layer that feels unexpected and memorable.
As Levy put it near the end of the interview:
“It really enhances that environment. It's that icing on the cake.”
For event professionals looking for another way to differentiate a conference, trade show, experiential activation, presentation, or special event, scent may be an experience worth exploring.
Read the full TSNN interview, “The Power of Scent at Events,” to hear more from Spence Levy about how Air Esscentials uses scent to transform live experiences.
