SOUTH KOREA. The Shilla Duty Free Jeju is closing its downtown store on the island for a total of ten days in April, including weekends and holidays
The company said that the move was an “inevitable” decision in the wake of the sharp drop in Jeju tourists prompted by the COVID-19 crisis and the continued deterioration of the business environment even after earlier reductions in trading hours.
The closed period includes eight days of weekends, the 21st National Assembly Election Day (15 April) and the Buddha’s birthday (30 April).
An average of over 3,000 people entered Jeju Island daily through Jeju International Airport last year. However, as the COVID-19 crisis escalated in both China and South Korea, visitor numbers plummeted. All international flights to and from Jeju have been suspended recently, except for a once weekly temporary flight of Spring Airlines to and from China.
The Shilla Duty Free Jeju downtown store has already cut its business hours twice. It reduced trading by 30 minutes on 7 February after the temporary shutdown prompted by the Jeju provincial government’s announcement that a Chinese traveller who visited the Jeju store and later returned to China had been diagnosed with COVID-19. On 12 March, opening times were reduced by a further hour.
“The time for normalisation of the business will be reviewed later after seeing the impact of the COVID-19,” said the company.
Meanwhile, The Shilla Duty Free Jeju International Airport store has also been temporarily closed due to the suspension of most flights.
