TURKEY. Setur Duty Free, one of the world’s longest-established travel retailers, is looking forward to a new expansionist era, as it seeks to seize concession and M&A opportunities at home and abroad.
In coming months, The Moodie Davitt Report will be telling the story of Setur Duty Free’s past, present and (highly ambitious) future. It is the tale of a company with both the backing and conviction to expand considerably at home and abroad.
Setur Duty Free, founded in 1964, has both the sector expertise and the financial clout to do precisely that. Its owner is Koç Holding, Turkey’s largest industrial conglomerate, which serves as a driving force of the country’s economy. Remarkably, Koç Holding’s combined turnover equates to 8% of the national income and it generates 9% of Turkey’s exports.
Koç Holding was Turkey’s first joint stock company and is the only Turkish company listed in the Fortune Global 500. Its market capitalization is the highest on Borsa Istanbul and its contribution to Turkey’s taxation revenues and employment figures exceeds any other company.
“As Turkey’s first brand in the duty free sector, we own the widest store and logistics network in our country, offering services across diverse channels of travel retail,” says Ahmet Sönmez, who assumed the role as Setur CEO in 2017 after being named Deputy General Manager Duty Free in 2015.
“Our past experiences from stores all across the land borders of our country – including Europe’s largest land border store in Kapıkule [on the Turkey/Bulgarian crossing] and the Sarp land border [Turkey/Georgia] – combined with our 85% market share at seaport stores, and shops at international airports such as Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen are of essential importance for us.
“Having realised Turkey’s first inflight duty free operations and as a company that offers wholesale service to the other operators in Turkey, we bring world-renowned brands together with our customers through our extensive experience.
“At our land border stores, which have the greatest internal share in terms of our existing operations, we offer our visitors a high-standard experience that beats many airport stores, as we try to improve our investments in all areas.
“As a Koç Holding Group Company, we strive to define our work principles from a perspective centered around the satisfaction of our employees, visitors and suppliers, under all circumstances. With every new step we take in the light of these principles, we plan our investments with the intention of contributing to the national economy.”
Setur Duty Free says that as a leader with immense experience in the areas it has pioneered, it continues to seek growth and improvement by continuously improving its processes. The company takes a long-term view of the market, a position underpinned by its belief in constructive and enduring collaborations with its stakeholders.
Such a perspective, combined with experience, has enabled the company to put the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective. “Looking back at 2020, our experience of over 50 years – generated from being the first brand in our sector – enabled us to close the year profitably despite all the challenges,” said Sönmez. “As Setur and Setur Duty Free, the fact that we have internalised agility enables us to interpret situations, which may seem as crises to some, but as opportunities for development to others.
“The crisis atmosphere, experienced across the world as well as in our country throughout the pandemic, was a period which enabled us to generate fresh ideas and new ways of doing business. The fact that we have managed to leave this period behind without causing any employee or visitor grievances is a great source of pride for us. Maintaining our activities throughout the pandemic without having to part ways with any of our employees has proven that our company has adopted sustainability in the socio-economic sense as well.
“For this reason, we plan to sustain our investments by continuing our work in full swing under all circumstances,” Sönmez concluded. “We will work together with our strategic planning teams to seize all opportunities for growth at home and abroad.”
Footnote: Look out for more developments from Setur Duty Free through our exclusive coverage in coming months.
| A 57-year success story based on key principles Setur was founded by parent Koç Holding in mid-1964, following a government decision that enabled the initiation of duty free retailing in Turkey. As the pioneer of the sector, Setur exclusively offered duty free services in its early days. However, in the intervening years the company has evolved into a powerhouse within the whole travel ecosystem.  Today, besides its duty free retailing activities at airport, seaport and land border stores, Setur is part of a much larger structure, contributing to the critical national tourism sector and the wider Turkish economy. Its travel agencies offer a diverse array of tourism services across Turkey, including almost 400 authorised and system sales agencies, private air transportation services, all provided by some 1,500 experienced employees. Setur Duty Free offers what it calls an “exquisite” shopping experience to visitors, based on having a team of highly proficient sales personnel and a wide product assortment across 46 stores in 20 locations across Turkey.  The travel retailer carries over 40,000 different products from more than 600 different brands. It focuses on eight major categories – fragrances & cosmetics, tobacco products, liquor, food, souvenirs, toys, electronics and fashion accessories. Like its parent company Koç Holding, Setur Duty Free is driven by what it calls a “constant and ceaseless goal” of creating added value for its stakeholders. In line with that mission, the company insists that all activities are performed in line with world-class corporate governance, customer satisfaction and sound corporate social responsibility practices. Combined, these underline the characteristics of a profitable, dynamic and sector-leading company, Setur Duty Free believes, one based on continuously growing results and high growth potential. |
