The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Sales at 10 surveyed duty-free malls in Hainan, a tropical island in southern China, totalled 2.13 billion yuan (almost $335 million) during the seven-day holiday, up 151 percent year-on-year, according to official figures. The number of customers reached 301,800, up 138 percent.
Hainan received 5,411,300 tourists over the holiday, with a total tourism retail revenue reaching 7.53 billion yuan.
The increase in sales on the duty-free island has largely been driven by China’s pursuit of a “Zero Covid” policy, which has kept borders largely shut to the outside world, as well as domestic policies implemented over the past two years in particular to boost tax-free sales and expand consumer tax exemptions.
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How to Tap Luxury’s Hainan Opportunity
Even after China’s borders reopen to international travel, holiday-makers will continue flocking to the luxury resorts on this tropical island renowned for duty-free shopping and golden sand beaches.
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.