Shilla Duty Free, Attracting Group Tourists from Chinese Travel Agencies... Full Effort to Welcome 'Youke'

Shilla Duty Free announced on the 27th that it has attracted the first package group tourists traveling to Korea through China Youth Travel Service (CYTS), a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Group tour customers from China Youth Travel Agency are taking a commemorative welcome photo after visiting Shilla Duty Free Seoul branch. [Photo by Shilla Duty Free]

China Youth Travel Service (CYTS) is the second largest travel agency in China. During the MERS outbreak in 2015, when the Korean tourism industry was in decline, CYTS cooperated with Shilla Duty Free to promote the attraction of Chinese tourists.

The CYTS group tourists are the first package group customers traveling to Korea through a state-owned travel agency since the Chinese government allowed group tours to Korea after 6 years and 5 months. To commemorate the 31st anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China, they entered Korea through the airport on August 24, the day of the anniversary. The number of customers was also set at 31 to match the 31st anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations.

On the 26th of this month, Shilla Duty Free Seoul branch presented welcome gifts such as bouquets and Gold Passes, which provide Gold grade benefits, to the CYTS group tourists who visited the store.

With the allowance of group tours from China to Korea, Shilla Duty Free is making every effort to welcome group tourists. The Seoul and Jeju branches have expanded brands and products preferred by Chinese customers, completed inspections of facilities and infrastructure such as dedicated interpreters, various promotional materials, and shopping convenience. In addition, they provide various benefits such as transportation cost support when using taxis and promotions exclusively for Chinese customers.

Various events targeting Chinese customers are also underway, including △ instant discount promotions via Alipay △ preferential exchange rates on WeChat and WeChat discount coupons for customers who pay a certain purchase amount △ instant discounts on some UnionPay credit cards and prepaid cards issued according to purchase amounts at the Incheon branch.

Shilla Internet Duty Free is also offering reward points usable when paying with WeChat Pay. Shilla Duty Free’s Incheon Airport and Gimpo Airport branches are conducting promotions such as discounts mainly on products highly preferred by Chinese customers, including luxury fashion and alcoholic beverages. Shilla Duty Free plans to actively strengthen marketing activities within China through its local office, expanding major partnerships by industry and carrying out joint promotional events.

A Shilla Duty Free official said, "The allowance of group tours from China is an important turning point for the normalization of exchanges and tourism between Korea and China," adding, "We will make thorough preparations to ensure customer satisfaction with duty-free shopping."

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