Following a soft opening in May, Lotte Duty Free has expanded its presence at Da Nang International Airport in Vietnam, with an official opening today.

As the first Korean travel retailer to tap Vietnam, Lotte now has two stores at the airport, one of 974sqm and the other 117sqm. The opening was timed so the stores are trading before the 24th APEC Summit in Da Nang, which starts on Monday.

Trading as Phu Khanh Duty Free, the main store had its soft opening in the new terminal in May as a JV between Lotte Duty Free (60 per cent) and a local partner, Phu Khanh Duty Free Trading Company. The store offers 115 brands, including 14 Korean labels, across such categories as tobacco, cosmetics, watches, accessories, eyewear and toys.

Lotte Duty Free CEO Jang Sun-wook says Vietnam is expected to become a bridgehead for the company in Southeast Asia as a new market with soaring foreign tourism.

He says the company is also considering opening an extra store in downtown Da Nang.

Already the company is projecting sales of more than KW30 billion (US26.7 million) in the airport stores’ first full year of trading, and says it is seeking other travel-retail opportunities in Vietnam including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang.

Da Nang is expecting foreign tourist numbers to grow by 30 per cent this year to 2.1 million, the company says.