INTERNATIONAL. A Global Blue survey of 30,000 international shoppers has found that 55% of respondents are willing to travel overseas if border restrictions ease.
The study conducted by the tax refund company in July found that this willingness to travel overseas increased by +7% compared to a study conducted in June. The increased desire to travel was most pronounced with travellers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar (+9% month-on-month).
Elite shoppers (those that have spent more than €40,000 (US$46,416) over the past 24 months) and frequent travellers (those that have made more than three trips over the past 24 months) were the most likely to plan an international journey, Global Blue found. From these groups, 60% of those surveyed would be willing to travel in the next month; this increased to 80% for elite/frequent travellers from Russia and 65% of elite/frequent travellers from America.
Nonetheless, a large portion of those surveyed said they would postpone travel until 2021. Almost two thirds (65%) of this group said this was due to concerns about safety and sanitation.
In this context, Asian shoppers were shown to favour regional travel. 50% of Chinese shoppers and 70% of Southeast Asian shoppers viewed the Asia Pacific region as safe, compared to 30% and 35% respectively for Europe.
Reassuringly for retailers, shopping remains a top focus in the COVID-19 era, particularly for those from America (75%), China (65%) and Russia (60%).
Global Blue Vice President of Customer Value Creation Virginie Alem commented: “In this climate of uncertainty and fast-changing trends, we have created the Observatory tool to help our partners in the travel and retail industries navigate their way through the recovery period.
“While this has been an extremely challenging time, it is encouraging to see that valuable international shoppers are showing an increased appetite to return to global travel. As retailers look to attract international shoppers back into stores, it is key that their health and safety concerns are allayed with innovative solutions that meet the demands of a post-COVID-19 world.”
Global Blue also commented on the UK government’s move to axe tax free sales for international visitors from 1 January, which is opposed by airports, retailers and brand owners across the country (and beyond). Worryingly, many international visitors are now less likely to travel to the UK, it said, following a survey.
Global Blue said: “Our consumer survey generated over 4,000 responses with 62% of international travellers saying they are now less likely to visit the UK. 93% said they would now not shop in the UK. Most said they would move their spending to France and Italy. We have just handed a valuable part of our international visitor economy over to Paris, Milan and Rome.
“We continue to fight the government’s announcement that it plans to stop offering tax free shopping to all international visitors after 31 December 2020. This will lead to significant job losses across the retail and tourism sectors, hold back Britain’s economic recovery from COVID-19 and undermine Britain’s global appeal and competitiveness.
“Global Blue is part of a coalition of trade bodies campaigning to overturn this decision. So far, we have created significant media noise, mobilised Members of Parliament, undertaken a consumer survey of 44,000 international travellers and commissioned an economic impact study to demonstrate to the government the unintended consequences of the decision.”
