Duty-Free Sales Post Another Record-Breaking Month
Sales at duty-free stores set a new monthly record of W1.74 trillion last month, the Korea Duty-Free Shops Association said on Monday (US$1=W1,133).
The figure broke the previous record of W1.71 trillion set in January.
Although February has fewer days than other months and there were some 1.32 million foreign shoppers, down from 1.45 million a month earlier, their purchases amounted to W1.40 trillion, up from W1.36 trillion in January.
The industry had been concerned about China's revised regulations, which could affect purchases by Chinese traders or individual vendors who have been big spenders at Korean duty-free stores. Under the stringent new regulations, they would be checked to see if they register their business and pay taxes.
"The new regulations do not seem to be fully implemented yet, so Chinese shoppers still spent big," said a staffer at a duty-free shop in Seoul.