Lotte Duty Free Wins Two Awards at the 'DFNI Asia Pacific Awards'

Lotte Duty Free won the Travel Retailer of the Year and Downtown Duty Free of the Year awards at the 2021 DFNI Asia Pacific Awards.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Lotte Duty Free announced on the 17th that it won the Travel Retailer of the Year and Downtown Duty Free Store of the Year awards at the ‘2021 DFNI Asia Pacific Awards’ hosted by the global duty-free industry magazine DFNI.

Now in its 27th year, the DFNI Asia Pacific Awards is the industry's most prestigious ceremony where a panel of judges composed of airport, duty-free, and tourism experts selects the companies with the greatest achievements in the Asia-Pacific region over the past year. Due to COVID-19, this year’s ceremony was held online, with awards presented in a total of 18 categories.

Lotte Duty Free received high marks for winning the top prize, Travel Retailer of the Year, by launching and operating its own online mall, ‘Lux Mall,’ for domestic customs clearance duty-free product sales, and by holding the ‘Family Concert,’ which had been conducted offline annually, online, attracting 900,000 new members to its internet duty-free store. These efforts demonstrated digital innovation and achievement despite the unprecedented pandemic situation.

Selected as Downtown Duty Free Store of the Year for the second consecutive year following last year, Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong Main Store was highly evaluated for operating the industry’s first digital untact store, collaborating with brands to enhance customers’ digital experiences, marketing activities for small and medium-sized brands housed in the Myeongdong Main Store, and providing low-interest financial support.

Lee Gap, CEO of Lotte Duty Free, said, “I believe that our agile and flexible response to changes amid the great crisis caused by COVID-19 led to these good results at this year’s awards ceremony,” adding, “We will continue to present innovative business models in the upcoming post-COVID era.”