"Big-Spending 'Yukeo' Returns After 6 Years"... Duty-Free Industry Busy Welcoming Customers

Securing Interpreters, Producing Promotional Materials
Planning China-Specific Brands and Promotions
"Will Be Reflected in Performance from Q4"

As group tours by Chinese tourists to Korea resume, the duty-free industry is showing busy movements to welcome customers. They are moving quickly by strengthening local marketing in China, introducing brands for Chinese group tourists (Youke), and preparing experiential content for them.

According to the duty-free industry on the 14th, customized products are being prepared for Youke visiting Korea for the first time in six years. Hotel Shilla, which operates Shilla Duty Free, is expanding Chinese customer-preferred brands and products at its downtown duty-free stores in Seoul and Jeju, securing dedicated interpreters, producing promotional materials, and inspecting facilities to enhance shopping convenience. They are also planning taxi fare support and sales events for Chinese customers.

At airport duty-free stores such as Incheon Airport and Gimpo Airport, special promotions focused on luxury fashion and alcoholic beverages are being prepared. These are tailored to Chinese preferences, and Shilla Internet Duty Free is undergoing a revamp to suit Chinese user habits.

Shinsegae Duty Free aims to capture the hearts of Youke by strengthening experiential content. They plan to install installation art and media art inside the duty-free stores to provide differentiated experiences that cannot be enjoyed at other duty-free shops while shopping. Previously, Shinsegae Duty Free collaborated with the National Museum of Korea to showcase media art reinterpreting the unique beauty and elegance of Korea at the Shinsegae Duty Free Myeongdong store. They also plan to quickly introduce brands favored by Chinese customers into the duty-free stores. A Shinsegae Duty Free official explained, “The most important conditions to attract tourists to duty-free stores are location and brand,” adding, “We will strengthen both content and brands to attract tourists.”

Chinese tourists (Youke) are flocking to Lotte Duty Free Shop inside the Lotte World Tower.

Hyundai Department Store Duty Free plans to install dedicated desks for Chinese group tourists and foreign VIPs to enhance shopping convenience. They will also develop group tour products linked with major tourist attractions such as aquariums. Lotte Duty Free is directly producing Korean travel packages that include duty-free shopping courses to attract customers, while preparing discount promotions linked with payment systems such as Alipay and UnionPay to improve services for Chinese customers. They are also preparing to operate three dedicated elevators installed last year for Chinese tourists. These elevators allow direct access to the duty-free stores from the parking lot without passing through other floors.

The duty-free industry expects a strong performance improvement from the second half of this year through next year due to visits by high-spending Youke. The period when performance is expected to rise significantly is the fourth quarter. With the increase in foreign tourists and the addition of Chinese group tourists, the improvement in performance is expected to be greater than anticipated. In particular, the influx of Chinese group tourists has the advantage of increasing the number of customers and is positive for companies as it can reduce dependence on daigou (personal shoppers). The commission paid to travel agencies is about half of that paid to daigou, which can improve profitability. A duty-free industry official said, “It takes about two months from now for travel agencies to create tour products and recruit customers,” adding, “Starting from the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from September 29 to October 6, the number of Chinese tourists will increase exponentially.”

Buoyed by these expectations, duty-free store stocks are also on the rise. Hotel Shilla’s stock price has risen more than 20% since the news of Chinese group tours to Korea was reported on the 10th. During the same period, Hyundai Department Store rose 21%, and Shinsegae also increased by more than 10%.

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