"Leading Duty-Free Industry Changes in Step with the Times" Kim Tae-ho, Vice President of Hotel Shilla, Appointed as Chairman of Korea Duty Free Shop Association

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Kim Tae-ho, Vice President of Hotel Shilla.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Kim Tae-ho, Vice President of Hotel Shilla, has been appointed as the 7th President of the Korea Duty Free Shop Association. The newly appointed President Kim plans to actively address industry issues arising from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the industry on the 2nd, the Korea Duty Free Shop Association appointed Vice President Kim as the new president of the association effective from the 1st. His term is one year, until March 1, 2023. Previously, the association held its regular general meeting on the 25th and unanimously elected Vice President Kim as president.

In his inaugural speech, he stated, "If we fail to adapt to or properly respond to the changes demanded by the times, we cannot guarantee the future," identifying the association’s top priorities as ‘the swift recovery of the duty-free industry’ and ‘securing new growth engines.’ He added, "We will lead changes that align with the flow of the times." Furthermore, he said, "We will strive to actively improve regulations or obstacles that hinder the development of the duty-free industry and securing global competitiveness."

President Kim was born in 1968, graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Economics, and joined Samsung Electronics in 1991. Since 2013, he has served as the support team leader and business division head of Hotel Shilla’s duty-free distribution business, and has been the head of the duty-free distribution business division (Vice President) since 2021.

This is the first time a president from Hotel Shilla has been elected. Until now, the association president position was continuously held by the CEO of Lotte Duty Free. As calls for change in this practice arose, from 2020, the three major duty-free shops agreed to rotate the presidency annually. As a result, CEO Lee of Lotte Duty Free served as president last year, and Vice President Kim is succeeding him this year. Next year, it is expected that Shinsegae Duty Free will take the position.

Meanwhile, CEO Lee, the 6th president of the Duty Free Shop Association, completed his term on the 28th. During his tenure, he was recognized by the industry for efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, including ▲non-landing sightseeing flights ▲airport duty-free rent reductions ▲abolition of duty-free limits.

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