CHINA. UK analyst Air4Casts’ latest quarterly Chinese traveller survey offers the travel retail channel plenty of cause for optimism.
Air4Casts Managing Director Jane Robinson said: “Travel and travel retail spending intentions amongst respondents remain strong despite the economic uncertainty and there are some interesting moves towards seeking out Chinese home-grown luxury brands when travelling – as well as a continued surge in the number of respondents using the internet to research luxury goods and prices prior to travel.”
Air4Casts said that its latest quarterly survey is especially timely. It follows what the analyst said was “a summer of some disarray when share prices fell and a currency devaluation was ineptly handled”.
In September manufacturing output fell for the seventh month in a row while the recorded GDP growth number for August was, at 4.7%, short of the target 7% points.
“With this new and uncertain macro-economic background in play, consumer confidence is absolutely the key factor in future travel expenditure,” said Air4Casts. “Will people nursing significant stock exchange losses react by increasing their savings rates? Will they scale back their foreign travel plans?
“The short answer from this quarter’s survey is a resounding ‘No’. This quarter’s interviewees were resolute in their determination to continue travelling and, crucially for travel retail, to continue spending on consumer goods, both at the airport shops and downtown at their destination.”
Source: Air4CastsHighlights of this quarter’s survey:
– future travel plans to South Korea are back up to pre-MERS levels; this is already being borne out by airport traffic and visitor numbers from the Korean airports
– – planned travel to the USA is up +45% on the previous quarterly survey; the latest US DoC data shows that Chinese tourists entering the USA were up almost +25% in the first quarter of 2015
– there was no change this quarter in the intention to buy at the airport; it remains at 91% of respondents questioned
– luxury clothing and accessories top the list of most sought-after items; but respondents are increasingly looking to buy more home-grown luxury brands if they can find them
– almost a third of respondents cited a wish to buy Chinese luxury fashion goods in addition to the global brands
Air4Casts said that prospects for the core airport product categories also remain strong with 86% of female respondents saying they would be buying a cosmetics or fragrance item at the airport on their next trip. Of males surveyed, 58% said they would be looking for a prestigious liquor product at the airport.
Additionally:
– Half of all interviewees intend to buy a premium chocolate item for gift purposes.
– Small electronic devices are still a popular pre-planned airport purchase, and, crucially…
– … 79% of interviewees now use the internet to research airport and downtown shop prices prior to travel.
Continuing the trend of the past two quarterly surveys:
– more than 75% of respondents said they were definitely now seeking better value for money when buying luxury goods abroad.
– The next quarterly Chinese Traveller Survey will take place in December 2015 with reporting first week January.
For more information about the survey please contact the Air4casts China Polling team at www.air4casts.com
NOTE: The Moodie Report works closely with Air4Casts, the most respected provider of passenger traffic forecasting and other travel analysis.
