Registers ring with return of Chinese group tourists

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Registers ring with return of Chinese group tourists

Published: 30 Sep. 2025, 18:44 Updated: 30 Sep. 2025, 19:12

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A group of Chinese tourists browse duty-free products at Lotte Duty Free in Jung District, central Seoul on Sept. 29. [NOH YU-RIM]

At 2 p.m. on Monday, the first day of Korea's visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists, the main branch of Lotte Duty Free in Seoul’s Myeongdong district was bustling with Chinese tourists crowding the cosmetics, liquor and tobacco sections. Roughly 1,700 Chinese group tourists — or youke — visited the store in a single day.

From Lotte Duty Free to Olive Young, Chinese tour groups were ever-present in the popular shopping district on the first day of visa-free entry — and the tills rang louder than ever.

“I’m most satisfied with the K-beauty products I bought,” said Xiong Yuanjing, who was visiting with her partner as part of a group tour. “Korean cosmetics feel luxurious.”

By 6 p.m., Myeongdong’s Unesco Street was jammed with tourists looking for dinner options. At Olive Young’s flagship Myeongdong Town branch, youke — their hands full of duty-free shopping bags — packed the aisles.

“I bought facial masks at Shilla Duty Free and makeup at Olive Young,” said Yang Luwei. “Olive Young offers a wider variety of products and cheaper prices.”

With Korea now offering visa-free entry for Chinese tour groups of three or more until June of next year, the offline retail sector is ramping up efforts to seize on the incoming demand. Department stores are launching discounts and high-end product promotions, while shops and convenience stores have bolstered inventory and staff in anticipation of the influx.

A Chinese shopper stacks up on comestic products at an Olive Young branch in Myeongdong, central Seoul, on Sept. 29. [NOH YU-RIM]

Lotte Department Store is targeting the so-called global MZ generation — millennials and Gen Z — shoppers through its fashion-focused “Kinetic Ground” zone, which connects to the duty-free store on the ninth floor. Foreign customers can receive a 10 percent rebate on purchases of fashion and beauty items.

“We’ve seen not only more Chinese visitors this week, but also a broader age range and more bulk-buying customers,” said a staff member at the fashion brand Mardi Mercredi’s stores inside Kinetic Ground.

Nearby, the Shilla Duty Free store in Myeongdong welcomed around 1,500 Chinese shoppers. Group tour sales on Monday alone rose 50 percent from the previous week, according to the store.

To mark the first day of visa-free entry, Shilla Duty Free offered “Fortune Bags” with traditional Chinese characters for “luck” to customers spending over $300 on cosmetics, fashion or food products.

But the duty-free boom is just part of the story. For other brick-and-mortar shops, with 49.6 percent of tourists visiting, now surpass department stores and shopping malls, which claim 39 percent of visitors, as the most popular shopping venues for foreign tourists, according to a preliminary second quarter survey by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.

The main street in the Myeongdong tourist area is seen bustling with foreign tourists on Sept. 29. Banners and signs welcoming youke, or Chinese group tourists, are seen draped across buildings in the area. [NOH YU-RIM]

Tourists are seen flocking the facial masks section of an Olive Young branch in Myeongdong, central Seoul on Sept. 29. [NOH YU-RIM]

To meet the surging demand, Olive Young has stepped up staffing at key stores in Myeongdong, with the flagship branch employing around 10 Chinese-speaking workers.

“A single Chinese customer often spends several hundred thousand won in one visit,” said an Olive Young representative. “We’ve stocked up on best-selling items across key stores at levels comparable to our massive ‘All Young Sale,’ which staff jokingly call our ‘final exam.’”

Convenience stores also saw a sharp surge. A GS25 in Myeongdong saw daily sales jump more than 9,900 percent — nearly 100 times higher — compared to a year ago. Sales made through Chinese-language simple payment methods such as WeChat Pay at 20 major stores in Myeongdong, Seongsu and other shopping districts also increased by 55.5 percent on year on Monday.

A banana-flavored milk stand is seen installed at a CU branch in Myeongdong in Jung District, central Seoul on Sept. 29. The branch specializes in K-food, and the entrance features convenience store items popular with foreign tourists. [NOH YU-RIM]

CU, operated by BGF Retail, also reported a 66.7 percent on-year increase in sales across major tourist hot spots like Myeongdong, Hongdae and Incheon International Airport. Its Myeongdong station branch prominently features K-snacks and banana-flavored milk to cater to Chinese preferences.

Branches of 7-Eleven in the same districts saw sales rise 300 percent compared to prepandemic levels.

Still, duty-free operators say the full impact of visa-free entry may only become apparent during October's Golden Week and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays in China.

“Sales of accessories and tobacco products on the first day of visa-free entry more than doubled compared to our September daily average,” said a Lotte Duty Free representative. “But overall sales remained about the same — we expect to see the real impact once China’s October holidays begin.”

“We expect purchases by youke to peak around the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in October,” said a GS25 spokesperson.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY NOH YU-RIM [[email protected]]