Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin's First Official Appearance This Year at 'Signiel Busan'

Attendance at 'Signiel Busan' Opening Ceremony on the 17th
Signiel's Second Property... 260 Rooms in Haeundae
Key Executives Participate Together
Regional Win-Win and Cooperation with Busan

Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group, made his first official appearance this year to commemorate the opening of the luxury hotel "Signiel Busan," expected to become a new landmark in Busan.

According to the distribution industry on the 17th, Chairman Shin attended the "Grand Opening Ceremony" of Signiel Busan held at the LCT Landmark Tower in Haeundae, Busan, around 10:40 a.m. After the ceremony, he personally participated in a hotel tour with Lotte Holdings Vice Chairmen Hwang Kak-kyu and Song Yong-duk, touring various parts of Signiel Busan, including guest rooms and ancillary facilities.

First Official Appearance This Year

This was Chairman Shin's first appearance at an official management event since the opening of the premium lifestyle edit shop "The Conran Shop" at Lotte Department Store Gangnam branch in November last year. Although he visited the Lotte Chilsung Beverage Smart Factory earlier this month and Lotte World Mall last month, this was the first time in about seven months that he appeared with external figures. After holding the funeral of the late Shin Kyuk-ho, Honorary Chairman of Lotte Group, earlier this year, Chairman Shin has been busy managing Lotte Group in both Korea and Japan. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, he was stuck in Japan for a while and conducted management through non-face-to-face methods such as video conferences. Following Chairman Shin's wishes, Lotte Group also introduced a weekly work-from-home system for headquarters employees.

Chairman Shin's direct attendance at the Signiel Busan opening event is interpreted as a gesture of encouragement for the hotel subsidiary, which has been struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, Lotte Holdings recently injected funds by acquiring all Lotte Food shares worth approximately 55.5 billion KRW held by Hotel Lotte and Busan Lotte Hotel. As a result, Lotte Holdings' stake in Lotte Food increased to 36.37%.

In addition to Chairman Shin, key Lotte Group officials such as Lee Bong-cheol, Head of Hotel & Service BU, and Kim Hyun-sik, CEO of Hotel Lotte, attended the Signiel Busan opening event. Government and Busan city officials, including Park Yang-woo, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Park Seong-hoon, Busan Deputy Mayor for Economy, and Park In-young, Chairperson of Busan City Council, were also present. Twelve participants performed a "Golden Key" ceremony, symbolically inserting a gold card representing the hotel's master key into a home set on the stage, signifying the dawn of a world-class hotel.

Second 6-Star 'Signiel' Property

Signiel Busan is the second installment in Hotel Lotte's 6-star hotel brand "Signiel" series, following the Seoul branch opened in 2017 within Lotte World Tower. It is located on floors 3 to 19 of the LCT Landmark Tower, the second tallest building in Korea at 411.6 meters, with a total of 260 rooms. Guests can experience signature Signiel services such as one-on-one escort check-in, welcome tea service, exclusive guest lounges, and complimentary shirt pressing and shoe polishing services.

The hotel also strengthens its geographical connection with the Busan area. Design-wise, it takes advantage of its location on Haeundae Beach to offer panoramic ocean views. Along with the ocean-view infinity pool, the guest-only lounge "Salon de Signiel" is designed as a family lounge allowing children under 12 to accompany guests, reflecting Busan's family-friendly characteristics, unlike the Seoul branch. There is also a dedicated kids' lounge and garden terrace, making it ideal for family vacations.

Pre-opening reservations have been strong. According to Hotel Lotte, Signiel Busan is performing well in sales during the summer holiday period, recording a reservation rate 30% higher than that of Signiel Seoul at its opening. Based on current booking trends, sales are expected to rise rapidly as the peak summer season in August approaches.

Kim Hyun-sik, CEO of Hotel Lotte, stated, "Signiel Busan will be a new source of vitality for the Busan tourism industry, which has been depressed due to COVID-19. It will contribute to creating new jobs and revitalizing the employment market in the Busan area, and furthermore, actively cooperate and coexist with the local community."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.