Dufry today confirmed it has formally signed the agreement with the Ho Wah Genting Group to open its 1,146sq m New Sky Avenue downtown store in the first quarter of 2018 in the Titiwangsa Mountains, northeast of Kuala Lumpur.

 

The Ho Wah Genting Group made its own announcement earlier this week confirming the 51% Dufry/49% Ho Wah Genting Group ownership.

 

ONLY TRAVEL RETAIL STORE IN THE AREA

Today, Dufry also pointed out that this development will be the only travel retail store in the area and an important one as the company further bolsters its Southeast Asian market presence.

[Click here for information on the original announcement: https://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/asia-pacific/dufry-and-hwgb-in-new-duty-free-malaysian-jv-for-chinese/127612-Ed].

 

Dufry says that work has already begun ahead of next year’s Q1 opening, with the new store expected to comprise four floors of dining and shopping which Dufry says is being built ‘to cater for 26m visitors per annum’ as of 2018.

 

It adds that the store is also connected to several hotels and attractions in the resort and enjoys ‘maximum visibility’ with its location adjacent to the entrance of the Genting Skyway cable car.

 

The world’s biggest DF&TR retail said the duty free store will offer customers a comprehensive assortment of world-famous brands, in addition to a selection of Malaysian products and brands to convey a strong sense of place of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia.

 

JOINT VENTURE WITH NO MINIMUM GUARANTEES

As reported in our comprehensive report earlier this week, the Genting Highlands is very popular with Chinese tour groups who are the main target customer, including the 0.6m that choose to stay in hotels in the Resorts World Genting (=2016 numbers).

 

The location is also popular due to its mixture of leisure, entertainment and shopping in the resort, as well as the 20th Century Fox Theme Park and four casinos.

 

Dufry adds that ‘strong growth’ amongst Chinese visitors in particular is expected in the next few years.

 

BELARDINI: ‘FIRST OF ITS KIND IN MALAYSIA’

Commenting on the development, Andrea Belardini, Dufry CEO in Asia, Middle East and Australia said: “The development of downtown businesses is one of the growth channels in our strategic business plan and we are delighted to have won the opportunity to develop this unique store in the impressive Genting Resort.

 

This store development in Kuala Lumpur will be the first of its kind in Malaysia and our special thanks must go to our joint venture partner Ho Wah Genting, with whom we are working in close collaboration to create an outstanding retail operation at Resorts World Genting – which has vast numbers of visitors.

 

“We are looking forward to continuing to build our strong business relationship and successful partnership over the coming years.”

 

Adding his comments, Dato Aaron Lim, CEO of Ho Wah Genting said: “We are pleased to have Dufry, the World’s leading travel retailer as our partner and we are full of confidence of successful partnership.

 

“With this collaboration, we look forward to providing an exciting shopping experience for visitors of Genting Highlands, leveraging on the world-class retail expertise of Dufry.”