Hotel Lotte in bid to attract Japanese tourists

South Korean retailer Hotel Lotte Duty Free is attempting to capitalise on the fall in the value of the Korean won and an increase in the number of inbound Japanese tourists by organising special performances by Korean celebrities for Japanese fans of Korean culture. The Japanese now account for 60–70% of the retailer’s customers, which is not surprising given that Y100 is now equal in value to W1,556 ($1)—an increase of more than 90% from W823 at the end of 2007.

 

Hotel Lotte assistant manager strategy and planning Shawn Lim told DFNIonline: “We have contracts with various Korean celebrities who are famous in Japan. The idea is that Korean travellers will come to our country to see the shows and spend money in our duty-free shops.”

 

DFNI understands that legislation came into effect earlier this year requiring shops to ensure that 30–35% of its customers are non-Korean, or risk losing their licences. Lim believes the current budget advantage that attracts Japanese outbound travellers to Korea “will enable the company [which operates four downtown duty-free outlets] to meet the legal requirements relating to the number of non-Koreans visiting its shops and making purchases”.

 

Meanwhile, Hotel Lotte Seoul is offering visitors to the newly-opened Ladies’ Floor Lounge a 5–15% discount coupon for the hotel’s duty-free store as Gold VIP customers. A personal shopping service is also available on request. Lim said: “There is a special area in the duty-free shop for VIP members to relax when they come to the store. VIP customers can contact the sales manager in advance and arrange for the products to be bought to the area at a certain time or contact him on arrival, make purchases and arrange to collect the products at the airport.”