Sales at duty-free shops surge in first half

Sales at duty-free shops in airports and downtown Seoul surged to a record high in the first half of the year on the back of a rise in inbound and outbound tourists, industry sources said Monday.

Hotel Shilla Co., a South Korean luxury hotel and resort operator, posted sales of 956 billion won ($843 million) at its duty-free shops in the first half, up 39 percent from a year earlier.

Its operating income spiked to 60 billion won from a mere 15 billion won over the cited period, according to the sources.

In the second quarter alone, Hotel Shilla saw its sales at duty free shops soar 43 percent on-year to 339 billion won. Hotel Shilla is expecting to log sales of more than 2 trillion won at its duty-free shops this year.

Lotte Duty Free, South Korea's top duty free shop chain, is also enjoying brisk sales at its duty-free stores on the back of increased tourists from China and Japan. Lotte Duty Free racked up 2.7 trillion won in sales last year.

South Korea attracted a record number of foreign tourists in the first half of this year, fueled by a surge in visitors from Japan and China.

The Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO), the country's state-run tourism promotion, reported an estimated 5.33 million foreigners visited the country in the six-month period, up 23.3 percent from a year earlier.

By nationality, Japanese tourists accounted for 1.81 million of the visitors with Chinese travelers totaling 1.19 million. The numbers represent a 30.2 percent and 29.9 percent increase from the January-June period of 2011.

Japanese and Chinese nationals made up 56 percent of all tourists to the country, according to the KNTO. (Yonhap)