Busan City and Lotte Duty Free Sign Cooperation Agreement for Small Business Support Project

Agreement Signed at City Hall on the 3rd, Promising Collaboration for the '2023 Visiting Small Business Problem Solver Support Project'

Development of Artisan Content for 15 Long-Established Shops, Business Promotion Including Trademark Rebranding

On the afternoon of the 3rd, Busan City signed a "Support Project Agreement for Strengthening the Capabilities of Small Business Owners in Busan" with Hotel Lotte Lotte Duty Free (hereinafter referred to as Lotte Duty Free) at the International Protocol Room on the 7th floor of City Hall to help small business owners struggling with high inflation and economic recession and to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts.

Busan City signed a business agreement with Hotel Lotte Lotte Duty Free to support the "Support Project for Strengthening the Capabilities of Small Business Owners in Busan."

The signing ceremony was attended by Lee Seong-gwon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, No Jae-seung, Head of Marketing at Lotte Duty Free, and other key representatives from both organizations.

Based on this agreement, the "2023 Visiting Small Business Troubleshooter Support Project" will be carried out in collaboration with Lotte Duty Free's social contribution project "CHEERUPS," targeting small business owners in the Busan area.

This agreement was established to promote win-win cooperation with private companies to revitalize local neighborhood commercial districts and ultimately attract domestic and international tourists by strengthening the self-sustainability of small business owners affected by the domestic economic downturn.

After signing the agreement, the city plans to select 15 small business owners who have operated stores in Busan for more than 10 years and provide them with customized consulting services.

Along with the executing agency, Busan Economic Promotion Agency, the city will support store-specific artisan brand renovation consulting and improvements to aging environments, helping small business owners improve practical aspects of store operation and management to aid sustainable growth.

Additionally, through Lotte Duty Free’s social contribution project "CHEERUPS," which collaborates with the city, store-specific "artisan digital transformation consulting" will be provided, focusing on digital transformation such as creating digital multilingual menus to enhance convenience for foreign tourists visiting Busan.

In the future, the city plans to plan and produce "Busan Artisan" content in collaboration with Lotte Duty Free and actively promote it online and offline through official channels such as Busan City, Busan Economic Promotion Agency, and Lotte Duty Free.

In particular, by offering online events and exhibitions that encourage citizen participation, the city aims to provide experiences to potential customers, imprint a positive brand image of "Busan Artisan," and ultimately link this to actual sales.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Lee Seong-gwon said, "We expect this agreement to bring concrete effects such as increased sales to local small business owners through customized support," and added, "We thank Lotte Duty Free for their commitment to cooperation and will expand this as a best practice in small business support projects through collaboration with leading companies in tourism and distribution."

He continued, "We will do our best to discover and nurture local artisan stores so that they become living commercial districts and tourist destinations where history and tradition are alive."

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