JAPAN. NAA Retailing-operated Fa-So-La Duty Free is to open two arrivals duty free stores at Tokyo Narita Airport Terminal 2 in early September.
Further arrivals stores will follow before the end of the year at the other two terminals at the Japanese airport (Terminals 1 and 3), according to Narita International Airport Corporation.
NAA Retailing Corporation manages most of the Narita duty free business; it will offer mainly liquor and tobacco products.
The Moodie Davitt Report broke the news earlier this year that arrivals duty free shops would open at Japanese airports as part of reforms to the tax system in the country. “It could appeal to returning Japanese who do not want to carry bottles of liquor around on their trip and be a convenient last-minute shopping option,” Narita International Airport Corporation said at the time.
“Visitors to Japan will also be able to enjoy duty free shopping on their arrival for added shopping convenience and enjoyment,” the company said.
As we noted last year, the prospect of duty free shopping on arrival has surfaced many times in Japan, notably during the height of the Japanese outbound travel boom from 1966 till the late 1980s. Local duty free retailers and airports have often complained that overseas retailers were benefiting from high off-shore spending to the disadvantage of Japanese companies. But resistance from Japanese domestic market retailers always stopped any progress.
That is now changing, not only in Tokyo but around the country. It is a big boost in particular for newly privatised airports Sendai International and Kansai International, which have welcomed the move.
Source: Narita International Airport Corporation
