 |
 |
With the Beijing Olympic Games just three years away, Beijing International Airport Company swings into action by issuing a tender for all its duty free operations – Pictures: Hui Min Neo |
CHINA. Beijing International Airport Company has issued a tender for all its duty free operations, The Moodie Report can confirm.
Until now, the airport has run its own duty free retail operation, supplied exclusively by China Duty Free Group (CDF Group) and China Power Duty Free Group (the latter a joint venture between CDF Group and King Power that officially and amicably dissolved its buying alliance this month ).
The tender, to be conducted in phases, represents a major retail opportunity at one of China’s key international airports, especially with the 2008 Olympic Games coming up.
The first phase will cover the period until the end of 2007 when a new showpiece terminal is due to open for the Olympic Games. The second phase of the tender will take place some time before that opening. The first tender is for the existing facilities only, we can confirm.
The initial tender closes on 19 July. It will cover perfumes & cosmetics, liquor and tobacco, packaged foods, fashion and all other categories on the international side of the airport operation. It is likely that these will be run by multiple retailers.
The first phase of the tender will be limited to local companies – they must be Chinese-registered – but they are free to choose international supply partners. They will not have to source duty free goods through CDF Group but CDF Group is likely to be a strong bidder for part of the duty free retail operations. Bidders must pre-qualify with the relevant Ministries.
Prime candidates to run the operations therefore include established mainland travel retailers such as Sunrise Duty Free, Orient King Power and CDF Group. But others with strong local interests, such as AS Watson (partner with Nuance at Hong Kong Internatonal Airport), will also be taking a close look at one of the most important travel retail contracts on the Chinese mainland.
NOTE: This story was originally published by The Moodie Report VIP News Alert, an e-mail service sent free of charge to all 6,500-plus readers of The Moodie Report weekly e-newsletter and pdf. It is devoted to stories of major interest and is sponsored by BPI.
MORE STORIES ON BEIJING INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Beijing passenger numbers rise +26% in May – 16/06/05
Beijing Capital Airport April passengers up +11% year-on-year; Air China pax up +10.5% – 13/05/05
