S.Korea's duty-free sector expects boom from Chinese tourists' return

South Korea's duty-free stores are over the moon thanks to the resumption of Chinese group tours after a hiatus of six years and five months, with major chains like the Shilla Duty Free Shop and Lotte Duty Free from Wednesday offering discounts and promotions exclusively for Chinese tourists.

Shilla on Sunday said 31 group tourists brought by the government-run China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) visited the chain's store in Seoul's Jangchung-dong neighborhood the day before. They entered the country on Thursday under a package tour planned by the Korea Tourism Organization and CYTS to mark the 31st anniversary of diplomatic ties between both countries.

Immediately after their visit, the CYTS members visited Shinsegae Duty Free's store in Seoul's famous tourist district of Myeong-dong. A group of 150 Chinese tourists on Wednesday and another of 270 the next day who arrived on passenger vessels visited the main store of Lotte in Myeong-dong.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, another contingent of 160 Chinese visitors stopped by Hyundai Department Store Duty Free's branch in the city's Dongdaemun district.

The domestic duty-free retail sector is thus engaged in intense competition to grab an early lead on the Chinese group tourism market. Shilla is expanding its scope of brands and products preferred by Chinese and adding interpreters for Mandarin and events exclusively for such tourists, like offering discounts on payment methods commonly used by Chinese such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay.

Lotte has reinforced cooperation with Chinese companies from the stage of planning travel products. To cater to the preferences of Chinese tourists, Lotte's main store in Myeong-dong and its branches at Lotte World Tower in Seoul's Jamsil area, Busan and Jeju Island are reorganizing their brands.

Shinsegae will form an alliance with domestic travel agencies to launch a tour of the section from Myeong-dong to the main Shinsegae Department Store and Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) Gate.

Write to Young Chan Song at 0full@hankyung.com