Lotte Duty Free reveals that the total Australian travel retail market was worth AU$1.124 billion per year pre-Covid and South Korea’s largest travel retailer has very big plans to grow the sector.  The multinational says it will target the same amount of sales from its Australian operations alone over the next 10 years to become the country’s largest duty-free operator.

Last week, Lotte Duty Free opened a 3000 square metre, three-storey flagship store in Sydney as a major building block for its ambitious strategy. Located at the junction of Pitt and Market Streets in the CBD, the company has hailed the new destination venue as “the restart of our global business”.

Lotte Duty Free shuttered all of its 19 stores during the pandemic, except for its Cam Ranh Airport outlet in Nha Trang in Vietnam. The opening of the new Sydney store takes Lotte’s network to 20 stores in seven countries – South Korea (8), Australia (4), Vietnam (3), Japan (2) and New Zealand, Guam and Singapore (all 1).

The interiors of the new Sydney store were designed by Bates Smart, one of Australia’s oldest architectural firms and responsible for landmark developments such as Federation Square in Melbourne. Over 150 international and local brands across wine and spirits, beauty, watches and jewellery are on hand to tempt travellers.

A render of the beauty floor.

Beauty is a huge part of the mix. More than 100 brands are available, including The Beauty Chef, Vida Glow, Estée Lauder, Lancome, Shiseido, SK-II, La Prairie, Sulwhasoo, Le Labo, By Kilian and Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle.

Lotte has also introduced Japanese skincare brands Pola and Decorte to Australian travel retail for the first time. Other inducements include an average discount of 15 per cent lower than local retail  prices for leading beauty products.

Luxury watches from Breitling, Montblanc, Longines and more are also a major focus. A resident sommelier is on hand to showcase the finest international wines and more than 100 premium whiskies.

In other travel retail beauty news, Goldfield & Banks, the niche luxury Australian perfume house, also made its debut in the sector with Dufry at Melbourne Airport earlier this month.

Founded by Dimitri Weber in 2016, the brand is now sold in more than 400 stores worldwide in 30 countries and will launch in Harrods in London on June 6th.

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