Lotte Group has launched a smartphone app for Chinese tourists visiting Korea.

The application is called ‘TianTianLeTian’, and provides visitors with information on shopping, tourism, and other services offered by Lotte companies.

Department stores and large discount stores have already launched mobile solutions for Chinese tourists, but Lotte Group’s new software marks the first time an app was developed by an entire group.

In addition to tourism information, TianTianLeTian also provides users with mobile coupons for Lotte Members, Lotte Duty Free Store, Lotte Department Store, and Lotte World.

The app also provides suggestions for places to dine, popular tourist spots, the latest travel information and content from Hallyu stars. Maps are provided in Chinese, and translation services are also provided.

In collaboration with Zai Seoul, a startup company specialising in travel information targeting Chinese tourists, the location and information of 1800 small shops are listed.

Lotte will provide small businesses who subscribe to its service with big data related to keywords frequently used in searches by Chinese tourists, human traffic, and shopping habits, helping companies develop marketing strategies to attract Chinese tourists.

Lotte’s decision to develop a new app was the result of a change in travel habits for Chinese tourists, and a move towards independent travel instead of group packages.

According to data from the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea individually nearly doubled in 2015 to 3.5 million compared to the 1.64 million visitors in 2013. The organisation expects 5.5 million individual Chinese tourists to visit this year.

To target individual travelers who get most of their information through mobile devices while traveling, Lotte started development of the application in April 2015. The beta version was released on January 6, and the number of downloads has already reached 40,000.

• By Lina Jang of KoreaBizwire.