Trbusiness. The travel retail Trbusiness. The magazine for global retail and duty free professionals.Taiwan tender: Tasa Meng ‘to continue at North Wing D’
By Luke Barras-hill |
Ever Rich Duty Free has pledged to ‘surprise’ passengers at T2 following its tender victory earlier this year.
Retail plans at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 2 are taking shape following Ever Rich Duty Free’s tender triumph earlier this year.
It is understood from a source involved in the process that Tasa Meng Corporation is set to continue operating at North Wing Area D.
Theoretically, this means Ever Rich Duty Free chose to continue its retail operations at its South Wing Area C location, however, this is yet to be officially confirmed and TRBusiness has reached out to Taoyuan International Airport Corporation for verification on the matter.
As reported, Ever Rich was named top bidder for the two 12-year mixed category duty free concessions (including three-year extension options) in what was understood to have been a tighly fought contest.
‘NEW SURPRISES’
The tender covered approximately 34,000sq m of space in North Wing Area D and 27,400sq m in the South Wing Area C, currently held by Tasa Meng Corporation and Ever Rich, respectively.
Under the terms of the tender, the top bidder (Ever Rich) could only operate one area. Once that decision was made following discussions with the airport authority, the remaining concession would go to the runner-up, in this case Tasa Meng Corporation.
Tasa Meng had previously told TRBusiness that it would prefer to operate the Area D concession, where it is currently operating.
Speaking to TRBusiness recently, an Ever Rich Duty Free Spokesperson said: “We were delighted to be the top bidder and awarded the duty free contract at Taoyuan International Airport. Preparations are well underway to make sure we offer passengers new surprises.”
Tasa Meng-operated outlets at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Those familiar with the Ever Rich Duty Free business will know that corporate social responsibility forms an important pillar of its corporate philosophy and that commitment will permeate this new contract.
This stipulates that the winning operator must renovate and maintain public area facilities such as waiting lounges, transfer corridors and other areas under a public-private-partnership concession agreement.
“As a professional duty free business operator in Taiwan for more than 20 years, we have experience and a good reputation,” said the Spokesperson. “We know the public-private-partnership working system and have helped the local economy and industry. We have confidence in our profession and corporate philosophy.
“CSR is part of Ever Rich’s DNA, this helps us to make right decision and [we] insist [on] doing the right things, so we will definitely continue giving back to society.”
BUSINESS RESILIENCE
In a wide-ranging interview available in the October issue of TRBusiness, Ever Rich points to a healthy 2018.
“Despite a number of external challenges, we are demonstrating great resilience in driving continued growth and the performance in the first half of 2018 is growing compared to the same period last year,” explains the spokesperson.
“The purchasing power of Chinese consumers is still no doubt the strongest and increasing,” they added, but in the same breath they make clear that travel retailers in general should not rely on any one customer grouping to drive sales.”
In February, the travel retailer soft-opened approximately 27,000sq m of duty free and travel retail shopping space in the archipelago of Penghu.
The Profond Pier 3 Duty Free Complex merchandises fashion, perfume & cosmetics, liquor & tobacco, accessories and jewellery as well as a variety of other products from more than 100 domestic and international brands.
Currently Ever Rich is focusing on widening appeal during the non-peak seasons of autumn and winter.
“This autumn, we work on diversifying leisure and sports facilities and activities,” said the spokesperson, who highlights Penghu’s role in hosting events such as October’s ‘Carnival of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World’.
“The environment and industry is changing fast, which results in many external challenges, but understanding the challenges are potential opportunities,” added the spokesperson.
Watch out for the full interview in the October edition of TRBusiness. Click here to subscribe.
To read previous reports on the tender, click below links.
https://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/asia-pacific/taiwan-taoyuan-t2-contracts-go-to-bid/143152
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