CHINA. Hainan Development Holdings (HDH) today celebrated the soft opening of Phase II of its Haikou Global Premium Duty Free (GDF) Plaza within the Aquarius building of Mova Mall in Hainan’s capital city, Haikou.
The Moodie Davitt was represented at the opening and ribbon-cutting by our strategic partner in Hainan, Hainan Hinews Media Co, which is reporting today’s big news via the popular New Hainan app (新海南) and other media platforms.
Photographer Liu Yang captured the excitement of the moment in the photos below while Moodie Davitt Report readers can look forward to exclusive coverage from Lu Tian Qin, Chief TV Host of Hinews.cn Media and Head of the Duty Free Channel at New Hainan in coming days. Additional photos below are courtesy of GDF Plaza.
Click here for an extensive related report from Xu Shenglan on location in Haikou.
| Shopper satisfaction “The overall environment of GDF Plaza Phase II is much more luxurious and magnificent than Phase I. Various categories and global top brands make customers feel that Hainan is an ideal place for duty free shopping.” So said Ms. Li, a tourist from Sichuan Province, one of the first Mainland shoppers to visit the new Phase II of Haikou Global Premium Duty Free (GDF) Plaza. Click here for our follow-up report by Xu Shenglang on today’s big opening |
As reported, GDF Plaza (with support from international partner Dufry) opened the 3,000sq m Phase 1 on 31 January this year in the Mova Mall’s Capricorn building.
That successful introduction has paved the way for the addition of a wide range of new brands in the 30,000sq m Phase 2 housed in the neighbouring Aquarius building.
Here GDF Plaza has launched over 200 top global brands across categories including fragrance, cosmetics, digital products, sunglasses and other luxury brands.
Phase 2 also sees the introduction of a range of leading jewellery brands, including Pandora from Denmark, APM Monaco, and Chow Tai Fook from Hong Kong, China and an assortment of popular international watch brands.
The project’s third phase, located on the first and second floors of Capricorn, is now in the planning stages. It will focus on top global luxury brands in order to meet strong consumer demand.
Travel retail veteran Casey Lim confirmed to key role
In related news, HDH has formerly confirmed the appointment of much-respected travel retail industry executive Casey Lim as Vice President of Global Consumer Boutique (Hainan) Trading Co Ltd, which oversees GDF Plaza.
Lim, who has been working hard over recent weeks to drive the Phase 2 opening, assumed his new role after spending the previous ten years in China working first for Sunrise Duty Free based in Shanghai as Director of Operations and later in Beijing as General Manager for CDF-Sunrise.
His three decades of travel retail experience include 20 years with DFS Group covering different regions, including Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau. His experience and expertise include managing perfumes & cosmetics, wines & spirits, tobacco, packaged food and confectionery, souvenirs, fashion, and watches and jewellery.
During his long travel retail career, Lim has fulfilled multiple roles from operations to merchandising to business development. He has rich experience in strategic planning, operation management, merchandising and project management.
Steady progress in Haikou
Since the Grand Opening of the first phase of GDF Plaza, a steadily increasing range of world-renowned brands has been introduced, including Estée Lauder, La Mer, Lancôme, Helena Rubinstein, YSL, Kiehl’s, M.A.C and other famous cosmetics brands.
Several fashionable perfume brands such as Byredo, Maison Margiela, and Germany’s 4711, have also been introduced to Haikou’s duty free market for the first time.
GDF Plaza also successfully opened the first authorised Apple store in Phase 1, featuring the iPhone, iWatch, MacBook and other Apple electronic products.
Since opening in January, GDF Plaza has also launched a range of convenient services for customers, including member shopping, delivery by post, and product pick-up for local residents after returning to Hainan island from their travels to the Mainland.
Note: Every fortnight The Moodie Davitt Report publishes Hainan Curated, in association with Foreo, a selection of all recent stories from the offshore duty free sector in Hainan province.
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