This is the second installment in a series of articles on companies vying for Seoul’s new duty-free licenses to be issued Saturday -- Ed.

Lotte Duty Free, Korea’s largest duty-free operator, said that it would maximize tourist attractions in and around Lotte World Tower to build up the competitiveness of its branch there.

The company pledged Tuesday to invest 2.3 trillion won ($1.97 billion) over the next five years to bring in tourists, develop tourism infrastructure in southern Seoul and support small and medium businesses.

Lotte Duty Free hopes to bring in 17 million foreign tourists during that period, which would amount to 17 percent of all foreign visitors to Korea. 

Other attractions at Lotte World Tower include a movie theater, an aquarium and a vineyard-style classic concert hall.

Lotte also plans to build a Bellagio-style Harmony Music Fountain on the nearby Seokchon Lake and continue with public art projects such as the recent Rubber Duck and Supermoon exhibitions.

The Lotte Family Festival, a K-pop concert event that has been held 23 times in the past decade, will also be expanded.

Within Lotte World Tower, Lotte Duty Free will set up an exhibition space featuring displays about traditional Korean culture and video advertisements for regional tourism featuring Hallyu stars.

The Lottle World Tower duty-free branch will also devote 25 percent of its store space to small and medium companies to help smaller businesses reach more customers.

In addition, Lotte Duty Free said it would budget 150 billion won for community work through 2020.

Jang Sun-wook, CEO of Lotte Duty Free, said he would “make the World Tower duty-free store a tourism and culture hub to represent Korea, not only promoting Korea and Korean culture to the world but also sharing growth with small and medium businesses.”

If it reopens, Lotte Duty Free’s World Tower branch will be the largest in Korea at 17,334 square meters.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)