Korean travel retailer Star Duty Free will open a border duty free store on November 13 at the Zamyn-Üüd border control building between Mongolia and China.
Star Duty Free is the first Korean travel retailer to open a land border duty free store.
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The new 81-square-metre shop, located next to a Heinemann Duty Free store, will offer a wide range of duty free goods including liquor, tobacco, cosmetics, perfumes and accessories.
It also offers a variety of local and Korean products.
“We are very excited to open the first duty free store in Mongolia,” said Star Duty Free CEO Ahn Sang Joon.
Ahn is well-known in the travel retail community as a long-term director, Airside Concession Team, at Incheon International Airport Corporation and subsequently Bangalore International Airport vice president – Commercial before running his own Seoul-based consultancy over recent years.
“We believe this store will be a valuable asset to the travel retail industry in Central Asia, offering travellers a convenient way to purchase high-quality duty free goods.”
The opening of the duty free shop is expected to boost tourism and service levels for Chinese travellers to Mongolia, the retailer said.
Seoul-based small & medium enterprise (SME) company Star Duty Free describes itself as a duty free platform provider. The company is also set to launch direct cross-border delivery of liquor from Hong Kong to South Korea in December.
The company said it is committed to providing customers with a wide range of duty free experiences and seamless customer service.
A new chapter for Korean duty free
The Korean duty free market is expected to continue its growth trajectory in 2023, with sales forecast to exceed KRW22 trillion (USD16.7 billion), Star Duty Free said, a year-on-year increase of more than +10 percent.
The new SME player claims to have brought a new, cross-border chapter to a market driven mainly by major duty free operators such as The Shilla Duty Free, Lotte Duty Free and Shinsegae Duty Free.
The Zamyn-Üüd border area covers 47.8 thousand hectares. It is located in the Dornogovi province of Mongolia and borders the city of Erlian in China. Zamyn-Üüd is a rapidly developing area and is expected to continue to grow in coming years, Star Duty Free said.
This is due to increasing trade and tourism between Mongolia and China, as well as the development of the Zamyn-Üüd Free Economic Zone.