South Korea’s travel retail powerhouses Lotte Duty Free and The Shilla Duty Free have partially reopened their downtown shops on the island resort of Jeju.

As reported, operations were suspended in June due to Covid-19.

A Lotte Duty Free spokesperson confirmed to TRBusiness that the shop will operate according to restricted hours (14:00 – 18:00) during the weekdays.

It will remain closed at the weekend and during holiday periods.

BRANDS REQUEST REOPENING

A Lotte Duty Free spokesperson said: “[The reopening] is for customers’ convenience and at brand partners’ request.”

The Shilla Duty Free’s will operate cosmetics and health food areas only at its store and will trade on the same hours (14:00 – 18:00).

“The plan is to operate flexibly according to the Covid -19 situation,” said a Shilla spokesperson.

As reported, sales of individual products in South Korea duty free and travel retail fell by as much as -80.7% in the first half of 2020, according to recent data from Center 4 Duty Free (C4D).

Sales at duty free shops on Jeju Island have been steadily climbing since April, adds C4D, with the most recent July data putting sales at KRW439 billion.

This is an updated version of an article published on 5 October.