Sri Lanka’s leading fashion and lifestyle retailer Odel, a unit of diversified Softlogic group, says it is lobbying the government to reduce duty on imports to make Sri Lanka an attractive shopping destination for tourists. Odel has an extensive international and local fashion brands under its umbrella and operates 28 outlets in Colombo and other key cities in the country. Tourist shopping constitutes nearly 35% of sales at Odel. Odel has leased out a substantial amount of floor space at Colombo’s newly-built and trendy shopping malls. It has occupied nearly 40,000ft² (3,716m²) in Colombo City Centre and will soon open its latest department store at One Galle Face Mall managed by the Shangri-La group, which spans 54,000ft² (5,016m²). For the year ended March 31, 2019, Odel’s net profit rose 23% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.245mn ($1.36mn), on group revenue of Rs.8.1bn ($44.9mn), up 10% YoY. The group’s finance costs rose 58% YoY to Rs.629mn ($3.49mn) due to the increase in working capital costs to fund store expansions.