"Tour Bus Returns After 2 Years" Lotte Duty Free, Malaysian Group Visits Main Store

Over 150 Malaysian Group Members Exclusively Enter Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong Main Store
Jeju Visa-Free Entry Restored, Over 170 Thai Group Tourists Visit Lotte Duty Free Jeju Store on the 6th
Additional Visits Planned by Over 300 Southeast Asian Group Tourists from Thailand, Philippines, etc.

On the 6th, about 170 Thai group tourists visited Lotte Duty Free Jeju Branch to enjoy duty-free shopping. Thai tourists are taking commemorative photos in front of Lotte Duty Free Jeju Branch in Yeondong, Jeju City.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yuri] Lotte Duty Free announced on the 7th that about 150 Malaysian group tourists will visit its Myeongdong main store. Southeast Asian tourists have mostly visited Korea in small groups until now. This is the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 that a group of more than 100 people has visited as an incentive tour provided by companies to their employees.

The group visiting this time consists of executives and employees of a company in Malaysia that sells cosmetics and health functional foods. They entered through Incheon International Airport on the 4th and are enjoying a 4-night, 5-day domestic tour schedule. They have visited major tourist attractions in the metropolitan area and provinces such as Jeonju Hanok Village, Imsil Cheese Village, and theme parks, and after a Han River cruise tour this evening, they will depart on the 8th.

The Malaysian tourists plan to enjoy shopping at Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong main store on this day. To welcome returning foreign visitors, Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong main store installed three additional duty-free exclusive elevators. After about two years of construction, they started operation in April and are connected to the third floor of the outdoor parking lot, allowing group tourists to quickly move from the bus to the duty-free store.

Earlier on the afternoon of the 6th, about 170 Thai group tourists visited Lotte Duty Free Jeju store and enjoyed duty-free shopping. They mainly purchased popular cosmetics preferred by Southeast Asian customers such as Sulwhasoo and Whoo, as well as fashion items like MLB. Since the visa-free entry system to Jeju Island was allowed in June and international flights between Jeju and Bangkok resumed, they visited Jeju. The Thai tourists covered representative tourist courses in Jeju such as O’Sulloc Tea Museum, Seongsan Ilchulbong, and Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.

A Lotte Duty Free official said, "This month, group customers from Thailand and the Philippines are scheduled to visit Lotte Duty Free, and we are preparing to attract groups of thousands of people in the second half of the year," adding, "Compared to neighboring countries, Korea maintains a high level of quarantine, and thanks to the popularity of K-content across Asia, inbound tourism products seem to be continuously increasing."

Starting from the 8th, quarantine obligations for overseas arrivals will be lifted according to government guidelines, and international flights also show early signs of normalization, so the duty-free industry is expected to become busy welcoming customers.

Meanwhile, in February, Lotte Duty Free signed a business agreement with Alipay+ to improve the shopping environment for Asian customers and launched digital payment solutions for Southeast Asian markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Furthermore, they are strengthening shopping benefits by conducting brand-specific promotions and offering additional gifts.

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