SOUTH KOREA. The bid deadline for the latest Seoul downtown duty free licence falls next week, on 4 October, with strong interest likely from from the country’s leading players.
It is the first new licence to be issued since the dramatic closure of Lotte Duty Free’s World Tower store on 26 June.
As reported, Lotte Duty Free lost the licence for the Seoul store last November after a bitter and controversial open bidding contest for key downtown duty free permits. The company remains hopeful, however, of gaining one of the new licences due to be issued this year.
Rival Hotel Shilla confirmed to The Moodie Davitt Report that if it wins, it will open a second store in alliance with Hyundai Development Corp (HDC). The joint venture already operates the Shilla iPark Duty Free store in Yongsan, which opened earlier this year.
The new site is expected to be in iPark Tower, Gangnam-Gu (near COEX) in southern Seoul.
