KT&G is gearing up to tap into the world's biggest duty free cigarette market, Europe, to expand its overseas sales.

Ahead of its European sales, the Korean tobacco company is first making efforts to introduce its cigarette portfolio, which includes Esse and Raison, to European retail agents and buyers at the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) World Exhibition in Cannes, France.
Europe is the world's biggest duty free market for cigarettes, accounting for about 60 percent of global sales, followed by the Asia-Pacific region, according to TFWA.
Also, following sales of perfumes, cigarettes are the second best sellers with average sales reaching US$ 2.7 billion per year in the global tax free market.
"KT&G has been mostly focusing its global sales in the Middle East and Asia where some 70 per cent of the firm's overseas sales take place," said Kim Tae-hoon, a KT&G spokesman in Cannes.
KT&G will gradually begin sales of its most successful cigarette brand, Esse, in Europe, the spokesman added.
The super-slim cigarette Esse is KT&G's main flagship product and is the number one cigarette brand in Korea. KT&G dominates Korea's cigarette market with over 70 per cent market share. Since 2001, overseas sales of Esse have been growing at a lightening speed, reaching 7.2 billion cigarettes or about 33.4 per cent of total sales abroad in the first nine months of this year.
This is the first time for KT&G to participate in the duty free exhibition for international retail and travel companies, as part of KT&G's globalisation efforts to join the world's top five tobacco companies by 2010. (pi)