Changi Airport Group has awarded its core category Liquor & Tobacco concession tender to Lotte Duty Free, part of South Korea conglomerate Lotte Corporation; it will run 18 liquor and tobacco stores across the four terminals in Changi Airport from June 2020.

Lotte Duty Free has beaten out its South Korea rival The Shilla Duty Free and Germany’s Gebr Heinemaan to land as winner of Changi Airport Group’s (CAG) concession tender after a six month tender process. This award marks a new era in Singapore Changi Airport’s travel retail, as incumbent DFS – which decided not to participate in the tender earlier this year – closes its own chapter after almost 40 years of operating the key concession.

Lotte Duty Free is the world’s second largest travel retailer in terms of sales turnover, with extensive experience in the travel retail industry including in the liquor and tobacco segments. It has concession experience in markets like Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam. According to CAG, Lotte Duty Free’s proposal won out with “its strong omni-channel and marketing ideas which will propel CAG’s travel retail strategy forward”.

“The Liquor & Tobacco concession is one of the largest at Changi Airport and it presents unique opportunities for marketing innovation and customer engagement. We were deeply impressed with the high quality of the tender proposals received and it was not an easy decision to make. We thank all the parties for their participation,” said Lim Peck Hoon, CAG’s Executive Vice President, Commercial.

“Lotte put forth the strongest and most compelling proposal overall. It is aligned with CAG’s vision to offer passengers a seamless omni-channel retail experience and new retail-tainment initiatives leveraging smart technologies. Lotte also demonstrated a keen understanding of the market environment with a sound business plan supported by a competitive financial bid and backed up by solid business fundamentals,” she added.

“I express my deep gratitude to Changi Airport Group for acknowledging Lotte Duty Free’s strength and strategy. Winning the Changi Airport’s Liquor & Tobacco duty free concession is of great significance in terms of establishing a bridgehead to achieve our vision of “Global No.1 Travel Retail”. Lotte Duty Free will put its continuous efforts to grow as a global brand with Changi Airport,” Kap Lee, CEO of Lotte Duty Free, stated.

Lotty Duty Free will start operations at Changi Airport from June 2020 with a six year term, overseeing 18 liquor and tobacco stores across four terminals spanning more than 8,000 sqm of retail space.

DFS’s other luxury concessions at Changi Airport, its downtown operations at T Galleria by DFS, and its Singapore Cruise Centre business will operate as usual.

[Photo credit: Changi Airport Group]

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