April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Duty-free shops and hotels in South Korea are beginning to feel the pain from a sudden drop in Chinese customers following China’s retaliation against the decision to deploy US-based THAAD anti-missile system, industry sources said on March 21.

Chinese travel agencies have stopped selling group tours to Korea since March 15 upon the authorities’ order. The cruises run by the neighboring country have also been banned from making stopovers at South Korean ports, with Chinese airlines forced to cut back their Korea-bound services at the behest of Beijing.

Tourism-related businesses here said that the repercussions are spreading fast, with sales from the first weekend after the travel ban plummeting from a year earlier.

Lotte Duty Free saw its sales slide 25 percent from March 18-19 compared to the same time last year, according to the company.

Revenues at its rival Shilla Duty Free also declined more than 20 percent on-year, with those from Hanwha Galleria duty-free plunging around 30 percent over the cited period, according to the companies.

HDC Shilla, a latecomer in the industry, said its sales fell over 30 percent in the same period. Shinsegae Duty Free also saw its sales sink about 35 percent.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)