Sales at South Korean department stores advanced around 10 percent on-year in the first three days of a nationwide shopping event, industry data showed Sunday, helped by an increase of Chinese tourists visiting the country.

Lotte Department Store, a major chain, said its sales jumped 12.1 percent in the first three days of the Korea Sale Festa, which kicked off Thursday, compared with the similar period last year when South Korea celebrated the Korea Grand Sale.

The event aims to connect the retail industry with the tourism and cultural sectors in line with the major Chinese holiday season that runs through Friday. Lotte said around 400,000 consumers visited its headquarters in Seoul over the first three days.

Hyundai Department Store, another major franchise here, said its sales also advanced 10.2 percent over the cited period. Shinsegae held a comparable figure of 9.7 percent, industry data showed.

The Korea Sale Festa kicked off as a major discount event, with the scope of products being much larger compared with last year's Korea Grand Sale.

Local duty-free shops also enjoyed increased profits on the back of the rising number of Chinese tourists.

Lotte Duty Free said the sales posted by Chinese visitors shot up 25 percent on-year on the first day of the festival. Shilla IPark Duty Free Shop also said the amount of products purchased by Chinese consumers moved up 30 percent over the cited period.

"Chinese tourists are expected to increase in full-scale starting Monday," a Shilla official said, adding the combined sales are anticipated to advance 30 percent over the Chinese holiday. (Yonhap)