As Chinese demand for luxury holidays grows, villa bookings site Luxe Nomad targets world's biggest spenders

Singapore-based luxury accommodation bookings portal the Luxe Nomad will tap into the mainland Chinese market by the end of the year and focus on expanding its customer base in Hong Kong, according to its founder.

The company, which re-launched its website in May to focus on villa bookings and positions itself as "affordable luxury" for travellers, plans to roll out a Chinese-language version of its website to attract Chinese consumers, the world’s biggest-spending tourists, by the end of this year.

“China does not have a luxury villa booking portal for outside of China,” said founder and chief executive Stephanie Chai.

“China is a big opportunity for what we are trying to do … there are many people who haven’t stayed in a villa yet, and for families, a villa can be cheaper than booking a hotel.”

The Luxe Nomad allows users to book luxury villas in Asia Pacific, Greece and Italy, and its sales team handpicks the properties that it will list on the site.

Although its customers come mainly from Singapore and Australia, Chai said the firm also has plans to ramp up operations in Hong Kong and grow its customer base in the city.