Duty Free PHL eyes growing market of Filipino outbound travelers
DuTy Free Philippines has inked partnership with about 50 travel agencies that cater to Filipino International Travellers (FITs) to attract more customers to shop at DFP by offering “value for money” shopping deals.
According to Chief Operating Officer Vicente Pelagio A. Angala, the marketing campaign will give a 5-percent discount to outbound tour groups who will shop at DFP’S flagship store, the Fiestamall in Parañaque City, within 48 hours upon arrival.
Discount vouchers will be provided by DFP’s partner travel agencies to FITs prior their arrival in the Philippines.
“We target to increase brand awareness and to encourage FITs to shop their pasalubong at DFP instead of buying them abroad by highlighting our price advantage and striking a chord with customers’ sense of nationalism—that for every item bought at Duty Free, they help in the development of the Philippines tourism industry—as we are an attached agency of the Department of Tourism [DOT],” said Angala.
“This campaign is expected to build traffic in our flagship store to generate new sales leads and getting more revenue from our existing clientele,” Angala added.
Based on Mastercard’s Future of Outbound Travel in Asia-Pacific 2016 to 2021 report, the Philippines ranked eighth in the top 10 list of fastest-growing Asia-Pacific markets by international outbound trips from 2016 to 2021, with outbound travels that are expected to reach 4.3 million trips by the year 2021.
To keep with the trends in the travel retail industry, DFP has embarked on the renovation of the Fiestamall which is expected to complete on november 30.
The renovation includes improvements in the food court, building façade, area “Go Lokal!” and Philippines’s finest boutique, and customer relations registration lobby and tourist lounge.
“This is just the phase 1 of this project. The second phase will start by the first quarter of next year which will include improvements in the atrium, building exits, and installation of LED screens,” said Angala.
“The confectionery section is also being renovated to become a chocolate haven for families especially for the little ones,” added Angala.
The Fiestamall contributes about 35 percent of the total sales in 2018, and has a selling area of around 4,000 square meters.
DFP is also expanding the list of exclusive brands that it carries which now includes Gucci Beauty.
Gucci has opened its first-ever high fashion cosmetics and fragrances collection in the Philippines through its partnership with DFP.
The boutique, which is located at the Duty Free Luxe in Pasay City, features the new lipstick collection under the direction of Alessandro Michele. Currently, there are 50 lipstick shades in three finishes: satin finish, sheer finish and translucent lip balm.
The creative director drew inspiration from iconic Hollywood movies and characters from the Gilded Era featuring unique formulations.
“We take pride that these giant brands choose to enter the Philippine market through our stores because of the trust and confidence built by the Duty Free Philippines brand over the years,” said Angala.