On Mar. 3, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at Lotte Hotel Seoul, located in the heart of Seoul in Sogong-dong. Chairman Shin explained Lotte’s business and the two discussed ways to cooperate on Lotte’s entry into the Egyptian tourism market and investment.
As of 2015, Egypt has a population of 88.5 million, a third of which are 20-39 years old. The country has a relatively young, big domestic market. Egyptians’ average disposable income grew on average 14 percent annually from 2000 to 2015, making the Egyptian market more attractive.
The Egyptian government aims to attract 20 million foreign tourists by 2020 by harnessing its rich tourism resources, such as the country’s beautiful natural landscape and historical sites built by the ancient Egyptian civilization.
Chairman Shin said: “Lotte Group has been successfully running top-notch hotels and duty free stores around the world. We have contributed greatly to the development of the Korean tourism industry. Though this meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, I would like to learn more about Egypt and find ways to contribute to the Egyptian economy and industry through close Korea-Egypt cooperation.”
Meanwhile, Lotte Group has been vigorously making forays into overseas tourism markets. In 2010, Lotte Hotel opened Lotte Hotel Moscow in Russia. Since then, Lotte has opened branches in Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Tashkent (the capital city of Uzbekistan) and Guam. In May 2015, Lotte acquired the New York Palace Hotel, a luxury hotel located in the heart of Manhattan, thereby expanding its business into North America.
On top of that, Lotte Duty Free is scheduled to open a duty-free store in the affluent area of Ginza in Tokyo in late March this year. The expansionist-minded Korean conglomerate is also pushing to open a duty-free store in Bangkok, Thailand.