What: South Korea’s duty-free shops are starting to see their long-awaited business recovery with a growing number of group tours.

Why it is important: According to a Lotte Duty Free official, some 150 tourists from Malaysia shopped at the Myeongdong branch for an hour on Tuesday before returning to their country.

Some 170 Thai tourists flew in on Monday to Jeju Island and shopped at Lotte and Shilla Duty Free shops. Jeju and Yangyang International Airports have resumed the visa-waiver program that has been suspended for over two years due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Shinsegae Duty Free said approximately 30 tourists from Vietnam visited its Myeongdong branch on May 27.

Amid growing expectations for a revitalization of the group tour business, which accounts for 80% percent of total duty-free sales, stores are rushing to make renovations.

Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong recently installed three additional elevators exclusively for duty-free customers. Shinsegae Duty Free Myeongdong has completed renovation work of stores that sell electronic appliances and food products.

The South Korean government will lift a seven-day quarantine mandate for unvaccinated arrivals from overseas. It will also normalize the number of international flights and scrap the curfew for late night and early morning flights at Incheon International Airport.

Tourism: group tours to resume?