The Mannah Group's duty free operation at the airports of Asuncion and Ciudad del Este performed very well last year, along with its land border shops in downtown Ciudad del Este.

The company's sales rose by 12%, with an extra boost from last June's opening of its new 500sq m border shop at the shopping mall adjacent to the border town's Friendship Bridge, linking Paraguay with Brazil.

President and Ceo Mohamad 'Alejandro' said: ‘Our new store has a great location within the mall and we have benefited from the big influx of visitors coming to see what has to be the most exciting shopping destination in Ciudad del Este.’

Business has been so good that Mannah estimates sales in the last quarter of 2009 were 20% higher than in the same period the previous year. He commented: ‘Air traffic at Asuncion and Ciudad del Este airports was significantly higher in the last three or four months than the previous year and there were also more tourists crossing from Brazil as well.

‘Our airport shops were definitely busier, as were our border shops in Ciudad del Este.’