TAIWAN. Continuing our series profiling The Moodie Davitt Report’s Travel Retail Superstars Awards 2025 winners, Senior Business Editor Mark Lane speaks to EVERRICH Duty Free Sales Supervisor Pi Huang Chang and the EVERRICH Duty Free Customer Service Team. Recognised in the Star Individual and Team in the Asia Pacific – Shop Floor, Customer Facing awards category, they discuss empathy in action, creating meaningful passenger moments and showcasing Taiwan’s warmth and hospitality to the world.
Airports are places of movement, urgency and transition. They are where holidays and business trips begin, loved ones part company and families reunite.
Amid the constant flow of passengers, it is often the smallest human interactions that leave the greatest impression.
That truth lies at the heart of two award-winning stories from EVERRICH Duty Free at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Together, they offer a compelling illustration of why the Travel Retail Superstars Awards exist: to celebrate the people whose compassion, initiative and commitment transform routine customer service into something far more meaningful.
In the 2025 edition of the awards, EVERRICH Duty Free Sales Supervisor Pi Huang Chang was named Joint Winner of the Star Individual Asia Pacific – Shop Floor, Customer Facing Award, while the EVERRICH Duty Free Customer Service Team claimed the Star Team Asia Pacific title in the same category.
While one award recognises an individual and the other a collective effort, the stories behind both are united by a common theme – a belief that service is ultimately about people.
For Chang, the recognition came as a surprise.
“I was honestly very surprised and deeply grateful,” she says. “I never expected a moment of helping a passenger would receive this kind of international recognition. For me, it was simply something I felt I should do at the time.”
Capturing the TR Superstars Awards’ spirit
In many ways, that response encapsulates the spirit of the Travel Retail Superstars Awards. The actions that leave the deepest impact are often not undertaken in pursuit of recognition, but because helping someone feels like the right thing to do.
Chang’s award-winning moment centred on an Indonesian passenger desperate to reconnect with his wife before boarding a flight. The couple had not seen each other for a long period of time, and due to her health condition, she was unable to travel.
The passenger was visibly anxious and emotional as he tried to establish a video connection before departure.
Recognising the significance of the situation, Chang moved swiftly and sensitively, helping navigate the practical constraints of the airport environment while ensuring the traveller would not miss his flight.
“The passenger was very anxious and emotional because he had not seen his wife for many years,” she recalls. “I could feel how important that moment was for him.”
When the video call finally connected, the anxious demeanour of the passenger changed instantly.
“When the call finally connected and both of them became emotional, the atmosphere completely changed,” Chang recalls. “It reminded me that sometimes what passengers need most is not efficiency, but human understanding.”
The story moved the judging panel, who praised Chang for demonstrating how compassion and professionalism can coexist, even under pressure. More than that, they noted how such actions create lasting impressions not only of EVERRICH, but of Taiwan itself.
That responsibility is something Chang feels keenly.
“For many travellers, the airport is their first and last impression of a country,” she says. “A small act of kindness can leave a lasting memory.”
Meaningful passenger connections
It is a philosophy that extends throughout EVERRICH’s customer service operation.
Across Taoyuan International Airport terminals 1 and 2, the EVERRICH Duty Free Customer Service Team has built a reputation for turning everyday passenger encounters into meaningful human connections.
The team’s activities range from complimentary gift wrapping and assisting passengers with lost belongings to administering first aid, repairing damaged luggage and even mending footwear.
The latter has become such a regular occurrence that the team repairs an average of ten pairs of shoes every month.
The origins of those acts of service are remarkably simple.
“Our colleagues noticed that some passengers were struggling with damaged shoes while rushing through the airport,” a spokesperson for the team explains. “Rather than simply observing the problem, the team asked: ‘What practical help can we offer immediately?’”
Over time, that question has evolved into a defining part of the customer experience.
The judges highlighted the team’s remarkable empathy, initiative and willingness to go beyond the traditional boundaries of customer service. Yet according to the team spokesperson, those qualities are deeply rooted in EVERRICH’s wider culture.
“First and foremost, this mindset comes from EVERRICH’s long-standing culture of public welfare and altruism,” the spokesperson says.
The company organises more than 500 charity activities annually, with many employees volunteering their own time to participate. Those experiences, the team spokesperson suggests, help foster a stronger sense of empathy and a genuine desire to help others.
“We believe service is not only about processes and efficiency, but also about making passengers feel genuinely cared for, welcomed and understood.”
Human-centricity to the fore
That philosophy is particularly important in an airport environment, where emotions often run close to the surface.
Chang understands that reality well. “Every day at the airport, we meet people experiencing different emotions – family reunions, farewells, vacations, business pressure or unexpected situations,” she reflects. “Sometimes passengers may not express their feelings directly, but you can see it through their expressions or behaviour.”
It is an observation echoed by the wider customer service team, whose members regularly find themselves assisting elderly travellers separated from family members, helping reunite customers with valuable possessions or staying beyond the end of their shifts to ensure a passenger receives the support they need.
“These moments may seem small, but they often mean a great deal to travellers during stressful journeys,” the spokesperson notes.
Such actions are made possible by a culture of trust and empowerment. EVERRICH encourages frontline employees to use their judgement, respond proactively and tailor solutions to individual circumstances rather than relying solely on procedures.
The result is a service culture that recognises the value of emotional intelligence alongside operational excellence.
“Technology can make travel more efficient,” the spokesperson notes. “But emotional connection still comes from people.”
As travel retail continues to embrace automation and digital innovation, that sentiment feels increasingly relevant. While technology can solve many practical challenges, empathy, reassurance and human understanding remain uniquely powerful.
Presenting Taiwan to the world
For EVERRICH, those qualities are also inseparable from its mission of presenting Taiwan to the world.
“We understand that for many international travellers, airport staff may be among the first and last people they interact with in Taiwan,” the spokesperson says. “Through sincere service, we hope travellers can experience Taiwan’s friendliness, warmth and human touch.”
Chang expresses a similar view. “At EVERRICH, we often say that service is not just about selling products – it is about sharing Taiwan’s warmth, hospitality and humanity with the world.”
Together, the achievements of Pi Huang Chang and the wider EVERRICH Duty Free Customer Service Team demonstrate the extraordinary impact that can be created through seemingly ordinary acts of kindness.
Whether helping reunite a husband and wife separated by circumstance, repairing a traveller’s broken shoes before an important journey or simply taking the time to understand what someone is feeling, their stories serve as a reminder that great service is rarely defined by transactions. Instead, it is measured in moments. ✈
{The Moodie Davitt Report partnered with EVERRICH Duty Free last year for an acclaimed dual film (above) and book project to celebrate the company’s landmark 30th anniversary (1995-2025).
The book (below) – produced in Chinese and English in digital and print format – chronicles the remarkable three-decade journey of one of the world’s top travel retailers.
More importantly perhaps, both projects reached deep into the EVERRICH DNA, examining how the company has carved out a unique reputation for championing and showcasing Taiwan’s artistic, cultural, commercial, environmental and intellectual capital.
The film was shot on location at Taoyuan International Airport by Moodie Davitt STUDIO, and written and presented by The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie.}
