News
Louis Vuitton to exit remaining Korean downtown duty-free locations
12+ hour, 49+ min ago (475+ words) SOUTH KOREA. French luxury goods house Louis Vuitton is to close its remaining downtown duty-free doors in the Republic, reliable local sources have confirmed to The Moodie Davitt Report. Louis Vuitton has three downtown duty-free stores in Seoul " at Lotte…...
Flexibility the name of the game as currency headwinds buffet Korean duty-free retailers
1+ week, 4+ day ago (1640+ words) SOUTH KOREA. As the much-weakened Korean Won comes under increasing pressure against the US Dollar, leading travel retailers tell The Moodie Davitt Report they are adjusting their strategies to manage exchange rate volatility. As noted in our recent report, Korean…...
Korean downtown duty-free sales fall sharply amid department store tourist shopping boom
2+ week, 17+ hour ago (473+ words) The decline came despite customer numbers being up +5. 7% year-on-year and +4. 8% month-on-month to 2, 569, 195. A deeper dive into the results reveals a tale of two channels with airport departures duty-free sales (excluding off-shore duty free) up +10. 5% year-on-year but downtown revenues off by…...
Lotte Duty Free's Seoul World Tower store boosts destination appeal through local tourism partnership
2+ week, 4+ day ago (398+ words) SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free's World Tower store has entered into a strategic partnership with the Songpa-Jamsil Tourism Special Zone Council to drive inbound tourism and enhance the visitor experience in one of Seoul's key travel destinations. The memorandum of…...
Shinsegae Duty Free taps lifestyle technology boom as beauty devices and wearables drive growth
3+ week, 1+ day ago (510+ words) The category has become a key growth driver for the retailer, led by brands such as Medicube, whose AGE-R beauty device range saw sales jump approximately +230% year-on-year in 2025. Premium Korean beauty-tech and skincare brand Thome has emerged as another standout…...
Q1 tourism shopping surges for Shinsegae " but department stores rather than duty free prove main beneficiary
1+ mon, 4+ day ago (444+ words) SOUTH KOREA. Duty-free profitability continued to improve for Shinsegae in the first quarter but the real story lies in an extraordinary surge in tourist shopping (predominantly Chinese) at the company's key department stores in Seoul and Busan. In a performance…...
Lotte Duty Free powers K-goods discovery through Korea Tourism Contest sponsorship
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (335+ words) SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free has partnered with the 2026 Korea Tourism Contest as sponsor of its souvenir category, reinforcing the retailer's commitment to championing local products and regional creativity. Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the…...
Trillionaire target: Hyundai Duty Free celebrates Incheon International Airport DF2 concession opening
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (882+ words) SOUTH KOREA. Hyundai Duty Free has described its newly opened multi-category DF2 Zone business at Incheon International Airport as a "quantum leap" towards the company becoming the gateway's leading travel retailer. As reported, Hyundai Duty Free was awarded the DF2 cosmetics/perfumes…...
Shinsegae taps May holiday surge with multi-channel promotional blitz
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (584+ words) SOUTH KOREA. Shinsegae has rolled out a sweeping, multi-channel campaign, targeting international travellers during the peak travel season in May, when key holidays in Korea, China and Japan overlap. Described as its most extensive promotional push, the retailer is leveraging…...
ACI Europe reports strong January growth in the region but geopolitical risks threaten momentum
3+ mon, 2+ week ago (753+ words) EUROPE. Europe's airports started the year strongly, with passenger traffic up +4. 6% year-on-year, though ongoing Middle East conflicts could disrupt momentum and weigh on positive traffic forecasts. That's according to Airports Council International Europe's latest air traffic report, which highlighted stronger…...