‘Lift off’ – Brisbane Airport and Lotte Duty Free celebrate renewed ten-year partnership

AUSTRALIA. On a landmark occasion, Brisbane Airport Corporation and Lotte Duty Free yesterday (29 May) celebrated the renewal of their contractual partnership for a further ten years at an airside ribbon-cutting ceremony themed ‘Lift off’, followed by a spectacular gala evening.

The Moodie Davitt Report was on location for the dual event, which was graced by Brisbane Airport Corporation management, including CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff; Executive General Manager Commercial Martin Ryan; and Head of Commercial Property Development Toby Innes.

They were joined by Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim Ju Nam; Vice-President Head of Global Business Operations Division Lee Seungjun; Lotte Travel Retail Oceania CEO Steve Timms; and Lotte Travel Retail Oceania COO Suzanne Van Den Broek.

At the airside ceremony, Ryan told guests, “We are excited to continue our partnership with Lotte, who have been operating our duty-free concession in this terminal since March 2019. We were incredibly impressed with the calibre of responses we received to our duty-free RFP, which highlighted to us the shared excitement around the future and growth potential at Brisbane Airport.

“The key criteria we looked at as part of the process was around four pillars – evolving, welcoming, sustainable and place. Lotte Duty Free not only expertly addressed these criteria, but also impressed in the areas of technology and innovation, new brands, experiential retail and creating a space which is ‘uniquely Brisbane’.”

Ryan said the international terminal will undergo a transformation over the next few years, including the doubling of the duty-free footprint to a 3,900sqm walk-through departures store. Additionally, there will be an “entire refresh” of all food & beverage, specialty, foreign exchange and travel essentials stores.

Structural changes designed to improve the passenger experience include moving security and passport control to Level 4 (look out for interviews with Brisbane Airport Corporation management next month).

Ryan concluded: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to extend our partnership as we invest over A$5 billion (US$3.3 billion) in infrastructure over the next decade, building the future of BNE. There’s never been a better time to be at the airport than right now.”

Ryan then presented Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim with a bespoke indigenous artwork by North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) local and indigenous artist and designer, Delvene Cockatoo-Collins. The unique piece speaks to Brisbane Airport’s history and the link to the traditional owners of the land.

Timms told guests, “Thank you to Toby, Martin and everybody in the Brisbane team that entrusted us with a new ten-year term at Brisbane Airport. It is a very special thing to have a great enough relationship and history to be able to give somebody a ten-year commitment.”

He continued: “Our partnership together really started six years ago. That partnership I like to think has been built on a lot of trust and it’s been built on performance. And, I think, really a heavy respect for each other.

“The future is very bright here in in Brisbane,” Timms commented. “We will unlock the amazing potential that Brisbane has, especially leading into the 2032 Olympics. We really need to live up to global expectations of an Olympics city and an Olympics airport. And that’s probably one of the greatest opportunities that we will experience in our lifetimes in an airport environment.

“The development just doesn’t finish there. As Martin mentioned, we’re going to be building some amazing innovative retail stores here, with designs which have not been contemplated anywhere else in the world before. I’d like to thank all of you, because together we will create this vision. We will all be on this journey together.”

Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff told The Moodie Davitt Report (see Podcast for full interview), “We’re celebrating today the renewal of the contract with Lotte Duty Free, which is great because they’ve been fine partners for the last six years, including the [COVID] difficulties we had. And part of that new ten-year contract is the redevelopment of their departure duty free, which will actually double in size, which is very, very exciting.

{Click on the podcast icon to hear Gert-Jan de Graaff in conversation with Martin Moodie}

“It will be a state of the art store that our passengers will really enjoy and where they will really spend their money, which is obviously important for all of us.

“It’s a very exciting time for Brisbane Airport. We will invest over A$5 billion in the next ten years in the development of Brisbane Airport. To a large degree that will be investments in our terminal buildings.

“We’re upgrading our domestic terminal; we’re completely redeveloping our international terminal and expanding capacity of it as well. And finally, we will develop new terminal capacity as well, including a new terminal building. And that should be all done and dusted by the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics in Brisbane.”

Speaking at the evening function held at the Thomas Dixon Centre – a heritage-listed venue for the performing arts including Queensland Ballet – de Graaf said, “I always say that duty free is not a normal average shop. It’s something really special. It’s the start of a positive and memorable holiday, an adventure or a business trip. Duty free is special.

“So when we went through the process of awarding our duty-free concession at Brisbane Airport, we were looking for several things that were a little different. We were looking for a partner who was willing to be unique, willing to be different, and one willing to challenge the status quo.

“We wanted an innovative partner who would really showcase the future of duty free. And I’m happy to say that we found in Lotte Duty Free a partner exactly like that. Lotte Duty Free is ready to deliver something uniquely Brisbane that will wow passengers as they pass through our airport, a store so good to walk around that people will almost miss their flights.”

In a well-received address, Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim Ju Nam spoke warmly of the company’s partnership with Brisbane Airport Corporation.

Commenting on Brisbane as a location, he said to laughter, “Brisbane is renowned as one of the most liveable cities in Australia. Its beautiful weather, friendly community, and magnificent landscapes offer unforgettable memories. I assume that people in Brisbane will never need to watch the weather forecast, because the answer always will be ‘warm and amazing’.”

Kim added: “Lotte Duty Free Brisbane has an interior that reflects the harmony between nature and urbanity, which is a characteristic of Brisbane, along with various global brands and specialty products of Australia.

“Since we always prioritise customer satisfaction, we will try our best to understand the various demands and preferences of our customers. Based on all these efforts and the passion that we are manifesting, I hope that Lotte Duty Free Brisbane Airport can enhance the tourism of Brisbane while enhancing everyone’s time here.” ✈

PICTURE GALLERY