LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest luxury group that owns Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, is pushing to enter the luxury hotel industry in South Korea as the French company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault met with top executives of Korean retail and distribution companies.

Arnault met with leaders in the retail and distribution industry during his three-day visit to Seoul to discuss ways for LVMH-owned hotel brands to advance into the Korean market, according to distribution industry sources on Tuesday.

LVMH Group currently owns three hotel brands: Bulgari, Belmond and Cheval Blanc. The hotel brand mentioned this time is Cheval Blanc located on the banks of the Seine in Paris. Cheval Blanc is a wine brand representing Bordeaux in southwestern France and Chateau Cheval Blanc is also owned by LVMH. Cheval Blanc is famous for its spa run by Dior. The hotel’s cheapest rooms cost 2.6 million won ($1,989) per night and suites 11 million won.

LVMH Group considers its hotel business a new growth engine. The conglomerate gained attention as it announced in November a plan to convert its Louis Vuitton headquarters building in Paris into a Louis Vuitton brand hotel. Arnault said when he acquired Belmond hotel in 2018 that if a customer can spend millions of won on a Louis Vuitton handbag, the customer would want to sleep in a hotel that costs 2 million won a night.

The companies Arnault contacted during his visit - Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, Hotel Shilla Co. and Galleria Department Store - are all in the hotel business. LVMH is expected to explore various ways to enter the Korean luxury hotel industry from simple brand rental to joint investment.

“Arnault has focused his visit on discussing the hotel business in Korea,” said an official from the Korean distribution industry. “As domestic retailers are already in the hotel business, each company is expected to review its business feasibility to create synergies with LVMH.”

This move by Arnault seems to have been triggered by an explosive increase in demand for luxury hotels in Korea in the wake of Covid.

Meanwhile, as part of his private itinerary, Arnault is said to have visited the Leeum Museum of Art on Tuesday as he is an old acquaintance of Hong Ra-hee, the museum’s former director. He met with Hong and her daughter Lee Boo-jin, CEO of Hotel Shilla. Hong is also the mother of Jay Y. Lee, executive chairman of Samsung Electronics Co.

By Kim Gi-jung and Yoon Yeon-hae

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