Customs officers inspect duty-free goods. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]

As outbound and inbound tourism market vitality continues to intensify, the duty-free shops at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport are experiencing a sales boom.

As of Sept 16, sales revenue at the duty-free stores in the airport has exceeded 1 billion yuan ($140 million), with over 150,000 customer transactions taking place. This represented hefty year-on-year growth of 29.74 percent and 31.67 percent, respectively.

At Xiamen airport, there are four outbound duty-free shops and one inbound duty-free shop, offering a total of over 1,500 types of duty-free products.

The airport duty-free store has a newly launched whisky experience hall, breaking with the traditional operational model of airport retailing. 

By adopting a strategy of "curated products + professional services + immersive environment", it's created a new high-end retail experience within the special commercial space of the airport. 

The initiative is said to fill a gap in premium tasting services in airport commercial offerings and elevates the overall consumer experience.

What's more, Xiamen Airport Customs has provided tailored clearance solutions and one-on-one guidance for duty-free goods. 

Meanwhile, the use of a digital supervision system has enabled online approvals for the entire process of duty-free product allocations, storage-in and storage-out, and sales. 

To top it off, the approvals time for transfers has been reduced from five working days to instant processing upon review.