Lotte Duty Free to Open Melbourne Airport Duty-Free Store in June... Successful Bid

Oceania's 2nd Largest Comprehensive Duty-Free Store
"Aiming to Become Oceania's No.1 Duty-Free Operator Next Year"

Melbourne International Airport (Photo by Lotte Duty Free).

Lotte Duty Free announced on the 25th that it has won the bid for the duty-free business rights at Melbourne International Airport in Australia, securing the operation rights for the international terminal duty-free store.

The duty-free market in Australia and New Zealand was estimated to be worth 1.3 trillion KRW annually before COVID-19, with global duty-free operators such as Lotte Duty Free, Dufry, Heinemann, and DFS fiercely competing.

Melbourne Airport Duty Free is the second-largest comprehensive duty-free store in the Oceania region. Lotte Duty Free stated, "Six global companies participated in this duty-free business rights bid, resulting in intense competition," adding, "Lotte Duty Free was selected as the preferred negotiator at the end of December last year, and recently finalized the detailed contract terms." Lotte Duty Free will begin operating the Melbourne Airport store from June 1. The contract period is 10 years, until May 2033.

The Melbourne Airport Duty Free store covers a total area of 3,592㎡ (approximately 1,090 pyeong), combining both departure and arrival duty-free shops, making it the second-largest among Lotte Duty Free’s global airport locations after Singapore Changi Airport. Lotte Duty Free plans to expand the Melbourne Airport store to 5,800㎡ (approximately 1,755 pyeong) in the future, transforming it into a store with annual sales of 300 billion KRW. The Melbourne Airport store will carry all product categories including cosmetics, perfumes, liquor, tobacco, and fashion accessories.

In this bid, Lotte Duty Free emphasized its experience operating duty-free businesses at major international airports across the Asia-Pacific region, including Incheon, Singapore, Guam, and Vietnam, as well as its online platform capabilities and product (MD) sourcing competitiveness. The company also highlighted its ongoing investment in duty-free business infrastructure in the Oceania region, such as opening a downtown Sydney store in May last year.

Kim Joo-nam, CEO of Lotte Duty Free, said, "The Melbourne Airport store, which will open in the first half of this year, will be a key hub for expanding Lotte Duty Free’s global business and market recovery," adding, "Lotte Duty Free will successfully operate the Melbourne Airport store and leap to become the number one duty-free operator in Oceania in 2024."

Meanwhile, Lotte Duty Free, which has resumed its global business, opened new downtown stores in Sydney, Australia in May last year and in Da Nang, Vietnam in November, currently operating 13 stores across 6 countries overseas. Last year, Lotte Duty Free’s overseas business sales increased by approximately 340% compared to the previous year. Lotte Duty Free is preparing for the grand opening of Singapore Changi Airport in the first half of the year as well as the Melbourne Airport store in June. It also plans to open a downtown store in Hanoi, Vietnam in the second half of the year. Lotte Duty Free stated, "it will further strengthen the 'LDF Belt (Lotte Duty Free Belt)' covering the Asia-Pacific region."

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