Domestic Duty-Free Shops' May Sales Reach 1.5687 Trillion KRW... Largest Record Since COVID-19 Pandemic

The duty-free shop in the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, which was closed at the end of October last year, reopened on the morning of the 4th, and tourists who completed the arrival procedures are using the duty-free shop.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yuri] Domestic duty-free shop sales in May recorded approximately 1.5687 trillion KRW, rewriting the 'highest sales since COVID-19' record set the previous month.

According to the Korea Duty Free Shop Association on the 25th, domestic duty-free shop sales in May reached 1.5687 trillion KRW, a 0.73% increase compared to April's 1.5574 trillion KRW. Slightly surpassing the previous month's record, it set a new monthly sales record since the full impact of COVID-19 began in February last year.

Foreign sales, which account for the majority of domestic duty-free shop sales in May, amounted to 1.4932 trillion KRW, up 0.93% from the previous month, while domestic sales decreased by 3.08% to 75.5 billion KRW.

The number of visitors was 598,169, down compared to the previous month (624,114). Foreign visitors increased to 54,147 from 50,353 the previous month, but domestic visitors decreased from 573,761 in April to 544,022 in May. This is attributed to a slowdown in demand for non-landing sightseeing flights and other services used by domestic customers amid growing expectations for overseas travel due to expanded vaccination rates.

The industry is currently experiencing a coexistence of hopes for 'travel bubbles' and concerns about the COVID-19 Delta variant. Although the duty-free industry is recovering, the scale of sales and number of visitors remain significantly low compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. In January last year, just before the full impact of COVID-19, domestic duty-free shop visitors numbered 3.84 million, and sales amounted to 2.0248 trillion KRW.

An industry official said, "With herd immunity achieved through vaccinations, we strongly hope to return as soon as possible to the pre-COVID-19 situation when overseas travel was active," adding, "On the other hand, concerns remain about delays in returning to normal life due to the spread of the Delta variant, so we need to monitor the situation closely."