CEO’s Playbook: How a Top Woman Leader Runs a World-Class Hotel

Shilla Hotel’s Luxury Upgrade Strategy
Chanel boutique opens for the third consecutive year
Enhances overseas value assessment

Lee Boo-jin, CEO of Hotel Shilla, is focusing on the luxury upgrade of Shilla Hotel. A notable example is her endeavor in 2010 to bring Louis Vuitton to the Shilla Duty-Free Shop at Incheon International Airport.

At the time, Bernard Arnault, chairman of the LVMH Group, had a policy of not opening Louis Vuitton stores in crowded airport duty-free shops. However, CEO Lee persuaded Arnault and successfully brought Louis Vuitton to the duty-free shops at the airport for the first time globally.

CEO Lee Boo-jin continues to maintain this luxury strategy. Recently, Jeju Shilla Hotel announced that it has secured a Chanel boutique for the third consecutive year.

Jeju Shilla Hotel will operate a Chanel pop-up boutique from November to June next year. This is the longest period of operation for a pop-up boutique held at Jeju Shilla Hotel. Jeju Shilla Hotel’s Chanel pop-up boutique is so famous that anyone interested in luxury goods would know about it. It’s even become a joke to say, “I’m going to Jeju Island to buy a Chanel bag.”

The fact that Chanel, which maintains a quota system for the total number of stores per country to preserve brand value, has opened a pop-up store in the same place for three consecutive years indicates the high value placed on Jeju Shilla Hotel’s brand value.

In addition, Hermès made its domestic debut by opening a store at Seoul Shilla Hotel in 1991. Graff, the British ultra-luxury diamond brand, also debuted in Korea by opening its first store at Seoul Shilla Hotel in 2013.

This luxury-related strategy has enhanced the value of Shilla Hotel.

The Forbes Travel Guide, also known as the hotel version of the Michelin Guide, classified Seoul Shilla Hotel as a 5-star hotel in its 2023 Star Awards among the three major domestic hotels (Shilla, Lotte, and Chosun).

Meanwhile, CEO Lee Boo-jin is known to have a close relationship with the LVMH family.

In March, when Chairman Arnault of LVMH visited Seoul unofficially, CEO Lee welcomed him at the Leeum Museum in Yongsan-gu, along with former director Hong Ra-hee. In July, she met with Gérald Guyot, founder of the French fashion brand ‘Destree’ and the third daughter-in-law of Chairman Arnault, attracting attention.

By. Joo Seung Hee