Ahead of this Saturday’s highly anticipated downtown duty free license awards in Seoul, South Korea, Lotte Duty Free has promised to invest Won2.3 trillion ($1.97bn) on tourist-related investments in the upmarket Gangnam quarter of Seoul between 2017 to 2021.

It has also pledged to include support for small and medium-sized business partners while finding ways to attract more than 17m foreign tourists.

This unprecedented offering from South Korea’s biggest duty free operator also includes an undertaking to create 34,000 direct and indirect jobs, while creating substantial foreign exchange income.

 

UNPRECEDENTED SUPPORT PACKAGE FROM LOTTE…

Lotte has also promised to contribute substantially to social needs, while offering ‘win-win management’ arrangements and solutions for small and medium business partners.

In a lengthy communication, Lotte Duty Free adds that all of these promises and much more are ‘included’ within the business plan it has already submitted to the Korea Customs Service on October 4.

 

As such, it is obviously hoping this will be enough to secure one of the Seoul downtown duty free store licenses which now comprise 10 years in length, rather than five.

SK GROUP ALSO HOPES FOR A LICENSE ‘REPRIEVE’

Needless to say, Lotte is not the only company looking to secure a downtown license since there are three on offer in the capital Seoul, with SK Networks also hopeful that it will win a license and be able to restore its duty free offer at the WalkerHill casino and hotel in Seoul.

 

Another three licenses are also expected to be offered to retailers operating in smaller South Korean cities, including Busan.

SK Networks (part of the SK Group) lost its Seoul license last November at the same time as Lotte Duty Free, although Lotte holds other licenses in downtown Seoul and at Incheon Airport.