Lotte temporarily shuts Jeju City store due to travel slump
Lotte Duty Free is to temporarily close its Jeju City downtown store from June 1 due to the slump in travelers visiting Jeju island because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Jeju Special Autonomous Region Tourism Association, 1,159 foreign tourists visited Jeju in April, a 99.2% decrease from the same month last year (139,360).
Since April 6, Jeju International Airport has been suspended.
Lotte Duty Free Jeju has been operating since February, but sales in May have suffered from a sharp decline of about 95% year-over-year, the retailer reported.
A Lotte Duty Free official said: "We have been working hard to continue operations since the Corona 19 incident, but due to the suspension of operations at Jeju International Airport, there are virtually no departing passengers, and the closure is inevitable."
Lotte said it would resume operations in Jeju as soon as the international COVID-19 situation calms down.
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