CHINA. DFS Group has won what it described as a tightly-contested bid to operate the fashion, watches and jewellery concession in the domestic Terminal 3A at Chongqing Jiangbei Airport.
The Chongqing Jiangbei Airport Authority announced the award yesterday (11 July).
Under the terms of the five-year concession, DFS will operate 13 branded boutiques spanning 1,500sq m in the fashion, watches, jewellery and accessories categories.
The success is particularly significant for DFS, representing the first time in Mainland China that the company has won a contract through an open tender. It also represents a pioneering Chinese domestic terminal contract for DFS.
DFS will take possession of the premises in September with operations beginning in November. The retailer plans to fully unveil its offering before Chinese Lunar Year 2023 with a “stellar” array of 18 luxury brands, including those making their debut at Chongqing Jiangbei Airport.
These are in addition to brands already secured by the airport including Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci and Burberry, “promising a truly luxurious retail experience at Terminal 3A,” DFS said.
“We are very pleased that we were able to win this concession in the face of stiff competition from other operators. In preparing for the bid, our teams brought to life DFS’ expertise in store design, retail operations, merchandising and marketing, with a strong focus on luxury positioning,” said DFS Chairman and CEO Benjamin Vuchot.
“We also leveraged our deep and strong relationships with some of the best brands in the world, gained over more than six decades of operational experience in airports and downtown locations. As China’s borders remain closed to international travel, providing more avenues for domestic retail has never been more critical or timely.”
“Less than two years after re-entering China with our Galleria store in Hainan Island, we are swiftly covering ground. I am delighted that we are able to find new and exciting ways to serve our Chinese customers in their home location, as part of our renewed efforts to grow our footprint in this critical market,” said DFS China President Nancy Liu.
Chongqing is Mainland China’s largest city, with a population of more than 30 million.
In 2021, Chongqing Jiangbei Airport was ranked fourth in China by domestic passenger volume, with over 35.8 million people passing through Terminal 3A.
How a Singaporean-Chinese airport partnership steered a safe path through the pandemicAs the gateway to Chongqing, a vast and heavily populated municipality at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in southwestern China, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is a major aviation hub. It welcomed close to 45 million passengers in pre-pandemic 2019, placing it among China’s ten busiest airports. Changi Airports International (CAI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Changi Airport Group, and Chongqing Airport Group (CAGC) formed a joint venture – the Sino-Singapore Chongqing Airport Commercial Management Co. Ltd in 2018 to manage the non-aeronautical business of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport. This collaboration is part of the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative between Singapore and Chongqing. CAI holds a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture. The company delivered strong results in its first year, exceeding its financial and operational targets. In association with CAI we examine the success of the partnership to date and the principles and strategies that have underpinned it through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to read our recent interview with Ma Yan (below), Assistant Vice President at Changi Airports International and General Manager of the Sino-Singapore Chongqing Airport Commercial Management Co joint venture.
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Coming soonThe DFS success in Chongqing will be featured in the launch edition of 穆迪达维特中国旅游零售报告 – The Moodie Davitt China Travel Retail Report, a digital magazine dedicated to our industry’s hottest market, publishing later this month to coincide with the Hainan Expo. The new digital title will be published in Mandarin and English four times a year across multiple platforms.  This exciting new digital magazine from the world’s leading travel retail publisher will focus on all aspects of China’s travel-related ecosystem, including:
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