Paul Griffiths talked about curating the ultimate airport experience and implored the travel retail industry to fundamentally change its approach to partnership. He said, “We’re not really a Trinity, we’re all part of the same ecosystem and have the same customer. We must change the way we think. One fundamental thing we did at DXB was not to accept the transfer of pain to anyone. We met and discussed ways of getting through this crisis together. We worked together to eliminate that pain. As a result of that, non-aeronautical revenue became 70% of our income during the pandemic.”

Offering the brand perspective, Sue Kyung Lee discussed her vision and values for the future in an evolving consumer and travel retail landscape.

She said: “We need to be obsessed with the consumer. This is the single most important thing for a brand. Gen-Z and Millennials spend 24/7 on digital, which gives us an opportunity to observe their behaviours and know what they are looking for. I like to view the Trinity as a ‘Golden Trinity’. This is a partnership that combines online and offline, physical and digital and is centred around the consumer.”

According to Lee, the biggest challenge faced by the industry is change. “The pandemic has been the biggest change that has impacted the industry greatly. However, change also leads to opportunity. If we embrace change with pro-agility (proactiveness and agility) and accept change as a part of life, then we can react in an agile and effective way.”

Charles Chen talked about how China became travel retail’s lighthouse and why an even brighter future looms. He underlined this a dazzling presentation about the newly opened cdf Haikou International Duty Free Shopping Complex (see video below).

Chen said that the closure of international travel in China offered an opportunity for CDFG to adapt its approach to business. “China is changing,” he said. “The outbound tourist flow at China’s airports and border ports dropped sharply, but Chinese tourists began to travel within the country. This inspired me to adapt and change our approach too.”

CDFG leaned on big data, innovation and cooperation to survive and thrive amid pandemic times. Looking ahead, Chen shared the five new pillars for CDFG’s future development. These are to improve new retail business, build more downtown duty-free stores in China, bid for business at large airport hubs in domestic and international markets, expand overseas business and strengthen capital operation. “We can never go back to three years ago. We cannot stop moving forward. We must embrace the future bravely with wisdom and courage,” he said.

*For our story on the presentation of the inaugural Trinity Award to Charles Chen, see page 34.