#Hotel Shilla said on the 4th that it will end operations at its Macau International Airport location starting on the 6th. Following its withdrawal from some areas of Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the 6th of last month, it wound down another airport duty-free business a month later.
Hotel Shilla formed a joint venture with Hong Kong duty-free company Sky Connection in 2014 to open a duty-free shop at Macau Airport, and later secured the business rights through a solo bid in 2019. The contract period at the time was five years.
The company said it is ending the business upon contract expiration, calling it a decision to strengthen financial soundness and improve operational efficiency. It reportedly did not participate in the rebidding, given the slow recovery in the international duty-free market.
The Macau Airport duty-free shop's performance also fell short of expectations. According to Hotel Shilla, the store's sales last year were about 127 billion won, or about 90% of the 140 billion won in average annual sales projected at the time of the 2019 contract. With travel demand plunging after COVID-19 and airport traffic only recently recovering, overall results were weaker than expected.