SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free and The Shilla Duty Free are closing their respective Jeju downtown stores from 1 June as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Lotte Duty Free said that visitor numbers to Jeju, normally a hugely popular destination for Chinese and Korean tourists, had fallen -99.2% year-on-year in April.
“Due to the shutdown of Jeju International Airport, there are virtually no duty free shoppers,” Lotte said.
According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Tourism Association, just 1,159 foreign tourists visited Jeju in April, compared with 13,360 in April 2019. Since 6 April, Jeju International Airport’s international services have been suspended.
Lotte Duty Free’s store in Jeju City has been operating on reduced hours since February, but has seen sales collapse in line with the tourism decline. Sales in May plummeted -95% year-on-year.
A Lotte Duty Free spokesperson said, “Since the COVID-19 crisis began, we have been trying to continue our business but due to the suspension of international operations at Jeju International Airport, there are virtually no passengers.”
The retailer said that it plans to resume business in Jeju once the crisis eases.
The Shilla Duty Free had closed its duty free operation at Jeju International Airport on 1 March but later partially reopened to cater for those shoppers brought in via a handful of flights from and to China. The store will remain closed until international flights recommence. Shilla said that it cannot set a date for reopening until the situation becomes clearer.
The Shilla Duty Free’s downtown sales in Jeju City reached KRW1.2 trillion (US$967 million) while Lotte Duty Free posted revenues of KRW1 trillion (US$806 million).
