Chinese Group Cruise Arrives in Jeju... Lotte and Shilla Duty-Free Welcome Over 350 Visitors

Chinese Cruise Group Tourists
Arrive at Jeju Island After 6 Years and 5 Months
Duty-Free Shops Strive to Attract Cruise Group Tourists

Group Chinese cruise tourists visited Jeju for the first time in 6 years and 5 months, raising expectations in the duty-free industry.

On the afternoon of the 31st of last month, about 350 group tourists from a China-origin cruise visited the Jeju duty-free shop and enjoyed shopping. Chinese tourists are disembarking from the Blue Dream Star cruise ship.
[Photo by Lotte Duty Free].

On the 1st, Lotte Duty Free announced that about 350 Chinese cruise customers visited Lotte Duty Free Jeju Store on the 31st of last month. They are a group of Chinese cruise tourists visiting Jeju Island for the first time in 6 years and 5 months since March 2017.

The cruise ship Blue Dream Star, which departed from Shanghai, China, on the 30th of last month with about 680 Chinese tourists on board, arrived at Jeju Port at 2 p.m. on the 31st. The 24,782-ton Blue Dream Star stayed in Jeju for 8 hours. The itinerary included visiting Yongduam Rock, Halla Arboretum Night Market, Rainbow Coastal Road, Dodubong Peak, Woljeong-ri, Seongeup Folk Village, and Seongsan Ilchulbong, as well as shopping courses.

Chinese cruise group tourists are visiting the Lotte Duty Free Jeju Store in Yeondong, Jeju City, taking commemorative photos.
[Photo by Lotte Duty Free].

About 350 people, half of the cruise passengers, visited Lotte Duty Free Jeju Store and Shilla Duty Free Jeju Store in Yeon-dong, Jeju City, around 4 p.m. on the 31st. The Chinese group customers roamed throughout the duty-free stores and enjoyed duty-free shopping for 1 hour and 30 minutes. A Lotte Duty Free official said, "Thanks to the cruise group customers visiting after 6 years and 5 months, the store was lively."

Lee Seong-cheol, head of Lotte Duty Free Jeju Store, said, "There is a plan for up to 20,000 Chinese cruise customers to visit Jeju Island by the end of this year, so expectations are high," adding, "Lotte Duty Free will thoroughly prepare to welcome customers by securing the best products preferred by Chinese tourists and checking the infrastructure of group bus parking lots."

Shilla Duty Free presented welcome flower bouquets to group tourists visiting the Jeju branch and took commemorative photos together.
[Photo by Shilla Duty Free].

Shilla Duty Free Jeju Store presented welcome flower bouquets to the Chinese cruise group tourists. Shilla Duty Free Jeju Store is conducting various events such as Alipay instant discount promotions for Chinese customers, WeChat preferential exchange rates and WeChat discount coupons for customers who pay a certain purchase amount, instant discounts on some UnionPay credit cards, and prepaid card issuance according to purchase amounts.

On the first floor of the duty-free store, a cultural space has been set up to exhibit works by emerging artists based in Jeju, allowing visitors to experience a variety of activities from shopping to art. On the second floor, the 'Finding Jeju' store operates, composed exclusively of unique Jeju local brands such as Jeju Aepongdang and Island Project. Shilla Duty Free plans to strengthen marketing activities within China through its local office, expanding major partnerships by industry and conducting joint promotional events.

According to Jeju Tourism Organization, in 2016, when the Jeju tourism market peaked, about 3.06 million foreign tourists visited Jeju Island. Among them, Chinese cruise tourists numbered 1.2 million. However, after the THAAD incident, the number shrank to 22,000 in 2018 and decreased further to 9,800 last year, causing a major crisis in Jeju's inbound market.

This year, 47 Chinese cruise ships are scheduled to call at Jeju, including 39 from Shanghai and Tianjin to Jeju Port and 8 to Seogwipo Gangjeong Port. Next year, more than 334 cruises, including 264 Chinese cruises, are expected to arrive, raising expectations that Jeju's duty-free industry will become more vibrant.

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