Page 36 - Travel Markets Insider October 2021 Final

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Cell Shop Duty Free in Foz de Iguaçu, Brazil (seen above and below) is one of the flagship free shops on the Brazilian border, says Essence
Corp. VP Antoine Bona, and are more reminiscent of a good airport store than old-style border stores.

Brazilian border store openings help Essence Corp. weather the

pandemic slowdown

Miami-based Essence Corp. has points of sale in Uruguaiana, all the others “Some of these retailers have
taken full advantage of the opening of are new, independent Brazilian owned local more than one store, so the business is
border stores on the Brazilian side of the operators. As many as nine more shops are concentrated in the hands of about nine
border to help bolster its sales of perfumes expected to open before the end of the year operators,” explains Bona.
and cosmetics during the course of the as well.
pandemic. Essence Corp. Vice President
of Sales Antoine Bona tells TMI that the
border openings permitted his distribution
company to add about one new point of
sale every month or so over the past year,
even as other venues remained closed due
to COVID-19.
“As you know, legislation was passed
[in 2018] to allow for Brazilian duty free
stores in 32 twin cities on the Brazilian side.
Looking at nearby cities, these stores could
serve a population of around 15 million
when all the cities open,” explains Bona.
With a duty free limit of $300* per
person per month for Brazilian residents,
(every 30 days), that can add up to a very
substantial market, says Bona.
“The duty free stores are not only
for the traveling Brazilians, but for the
local population as well. So if a town has
200,000 inhabitants, and they are allowed
to buy $300 worth of goods every month,
(liquor, perfumes, confectionery, etc.) that *Although it was announced at the ASUTIL Conference in November 2020 that the
is a lot of potential sales,” he said. Receita Federal (Brazilian Customs Authority) had authorized an increase in the
There are currently 18 duty free points duty free allowance from US$300 to US$500, which was expected to take effect from
of sale that are open on the Brazilian side January 1, 2021, no change has yet taken place. Although there have been no official
of the border, of which only four do not announcements, TMI understands that the higher allowance was postponed due to tax
carry perfumes & cosmetics, says Bona. In revenues already being lower than expected because of the coronavirus. The $500 limit
addition, besides travel retail giants Dufry is in the system and is still expected to take effect sometime in the future.
and DFA, which are today operating two

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