Lotte Duty Free magnet for foreign tourists

A Lotte Duty Free shop in Jamsil, southern Seoul, is crowded with shoppers. / Korea Times

By Lee Hyo-sik

Lotte Duty Free, Korea’s largest duty free chain, has emerged as a shopping Mecca for Chinese and other non-Korean visitors, providing a much-needed boost to the nationwide effort to attract inbound tourists.

Lotte said more than 6 million foreigners visited its stores across the country through November, up nearly 30 percent from the same period last year. Over 7 million are expected to shop at its stores by the year’s end.

``On top of various foreigner-friendly policies introduced by the government, our aggressive marketing campaigns in China and other Asian nations have played a crucial role in drawing the record number of foreign visitors,’’ said Lotte Duty Free CEO Lee Won-jun said.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the number of foreigners entering Korea surpassed the 10-million mark on Nov. 21. KTO expects 1.3 million more foreign tourists to visit the country by Dec. 31, pushing up the total number to 11.3 million, up from 9.79 million in 2011.

``Our efforts to attract foreign customers have also helped hotels and other hospitality-related businesses here, creating large numbers of much-needed jobs for young people. We will make more efforts to increase the sale of made-in-Korea products, such as cosmetics, to help small manufacturers tide over the current economic slump,’’ Lee said.

The sale of goods made by local firms at Lotte Duty Free stores soared 60 percent in the first 10 months of the year to October over the same period last year.

Lotte said on the back of hallyu, or the Korean cultural wave, a growing number of non-Korean shoppers purchase locally-produced cosmetics products over luxury European or American brands.

``Besides cosmetics, Chinese, Japanese and other foreign tourists have snatched up more clothes and other fashion-related items made by domestic companies. We think the sales will continue to rise at an explosive pace,’’ a Lotte Duty Free spokesman said.

To differentiate itself from other duty free shops and to draw more foreign shoppers, Lotte has been implementing hallyu marketing.

``We have organized a series of fan meetings with actor Jang Geun-seok and other hallyu stars famous in China and Japan for our foreign customers. At Star Avenue, our customers can experience various hallyu contents and learn more about stars,’’ the spokesman said. ``The place, located at our main duty free shop in downtown Seoul, has become a must-visit site for hallyu fans.’’

Lotte plans to become one the world’s third duty free chains by 2018 by expanding its presence in Asia. It has opened two shops at Singapore’s Changi International Airport, selling watches, handbags and other fashion-related items produced by Bulgari and other luxury brands.

Lotte will also seek to open a duty free shop in downtown Jakarta next May to target an increasing number of Indonesians heading overseas and foreign tourists visiting the Southeast Asian nation. The outlet will market cosmetics, jewelry and other high-priced, popular items among travelers.