Lotte World Tower.

Lotte Duty Free expects Korea’s temporary visa-waiver programme for Chinese group tourists to drive a ‘significant’ boost in volume.

The government scheme (effective 29 September 2025 – 30 June 2026) permits visa-free travel for 15 days and is designed to boost foreign tourist numbers.

Speaking to TRBusiness in an exclusive interview for the Top 10 International Operators report, Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim Dong-ha said: “Lotte Duty Free is working closely with its local offices and travel agencies in China to attract more group travellers, enhance customised shopping infrastructure, and strengthen promotional efforts.”

Lotte is adopting a multi-faceted approach to provide an optimised experience for Chinese group tourists and individual travellers, as Kim explained.

“For [Chinese] group tourists, we are collaborating with leading inbound travel agencies to offer exclusive packages that combine shopping with sightseeing programmes. For [Chinese] individual travellers, we are expanding payment options including WeChat Pay and Alipay and offering exclusive promotions and digital benefits tailored for Chinese customers.”

Playing the long game

Kim cites the recent improvement in Korea-China relations as a valuable opportunity to accelerate these initiatives. “We are strengthening partnerships with our local offices and the key travel agencies in China, enhancing our customised infrastructure, and refining our dedicated service systems to ensure Lotte Duty Free is the preferred shopping destination for Chinese visitors.”

In the meantime, Lotte is trying hard to attract foreign group and individual travellers from China and individual tourists from outside China.

Lotte Duty Free Chief Executive Officer Kim Dong-ha: “For [Chinese] group tourists, we are collaborating with leading inbound travel agencies to offer exclusive packages that combine shopping with sightseeing programmes.”

Lotte is also conducting targeted outdoor advertising in high-traffic tourist areas and integrating online and offline incentives through digital coupons.

“For premium customers, we host overseas VIP events that combine shopping with sightseeing,” he explained. “This strengthens relationships and loyalty. We are also diversifying our product portfolio to reflect global consumption trends by adding emerging brands which are popular on social media, alongside exclusive duty free products. Such efforts have led to steady sales growth from overseas group and individual tourists.”

Diversifying its Asian customer base along with continued growth in independent travellers is key to ensuring further market recovery, added Kim.

Lotte Duty Free’s flagship Myeongdong store in downtown Seoul.

In full-year 2024, the South Korean travel retail juggernaut generated total revenue (including its international business) of KRW5,609.1 billion (around US$4,113.5 million).

This represents a marginal decline of -2% on the KRW5,489.3 billion recorded in 2023, amid what has been an entrenched period of malaise for South Korea’s duty free market in recent years.

For the full interview, see the TRBusiness Top 10 International Operators e-zine – and do not forget to collect your exclusive print edition from the press racks during the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference (28 September – 02 October) in Cannes.