Le Chinese tour de luxe
Europe's luxury boutique staff polish up their Putonghua as groups of Chinese tourists shun museums and make a beeline for the shops
Move aside Mona Lisa. More Chinese visitors are headed to Paris and they are picking luxury stores such as Galeries Lafayette over visits to the Louvre.
By turning their holidays into lengthy shopping excursions, the Chinese are propping up European sales and aiding the outlook for brands from Prada to Gucci, even as the euro zone faces a second year of economic contraction. Close to a third of Chinese luxury buyers will shop in Europe in 2013, McKinsey estimates, up from a fifth last year.
"Consumption is happening more and more outside than within China," said Erwan Rambourg, HSBC's head of consumer and retail research in Hong Kong. "It's cooler to say you bought a Vuitton handbag in Paris than in China."
At Harrods department store in London's upscale Knightsbridge district last summer a sign welcoming Chinese visitors was prominently displayed at the entrance, and some employees milled about wearing badges that asked "Can I help you?" in Chinese. London-based Burberry had doubled the number of Putonghua-speaking staff in Europe in the past 12 months, chief financial officer Stacey Cartwright said.
"We have a love story between us and the Chinese," said Desiree Bollier, chief executive of Value Retail, which has nine Chic Outlet "shopping village" outlets in Europe selling brands from Dolce & Gabbana to Jimmy Choo.
That's hardly surprising when Chinese visitors to Europe, Hong Kong or Singapore spent €11,000 (HK$113,670) on shopping per trip, according to a survey published last year by Global Blue, the world's biggest operator of tax-refund points for tourists. Chinese buyers now account for a quarter of global luxury spending, from 10 per cent three years ago, according to a September HSBC Global Research report.