Hotel Shilla aims to bolster duty free business to world¡¯s No. 3 by 2022

2018.03.22 14:54:15 | 2018.03.22 14:55:44

Lee Boo-jin [Photo by Hotel Shilla]À̹ÌÁö È®´ë

Lee Boo-jin [Photo by Hotel Shilla]

South Korea¡¯s Hotel Shilla will bolster its duty-free business to make it a global third by 2022, said its chief executive Lee Boo-jin.

¡°We achieved best-ever revenue despite challenging conditions from reduced Chinese tourists through quality upgrades at hotel and leisure business,¡± Lee told shareholders¡¯ meeting in Seoul on Wednesday.

Her specific and aggressive business goal comes at a time of leadership insecurity at the country¡¯s largest conglomerate. Lee is the first daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who has been bedridden for years. Her younger brother Jay Y. Lee was released by an appeals court but faces another round of battle with state prosecutors seeking 12-year prison term for Lee on bribery charges connected to the ousted President Park Geun-hye at the Supreme Court.

Hotel Shilla has been expanding duty-free services overseas after the operation has been hit hard by reduced tourists. It opened up outlets in gateways of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Last year, Hotel Shilla posted an operating profit of 73.09 billion won ($68.5 million) on sales of 4.01 trillion won. Its duty-free business unit Shilla Duty Free ranked fifth in global scale as of 2016 in terms of revenue.

By Lee Yoo-jin and Lee Ha-yeon

[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]