LEADER/NEWS
warning signs up ahead Leader
Asia still cruising, but
Although this issue is dedicated to the Asia Pacific market specifically, TRBusiness now finds itself writing about the region in every issue of the year. This is clearly indicative of the region’s
role as the ‘engine of growth’ (as it is so often referred) with it continuing to register the most impressive sales performances of anywhere in the world.
The growth registered in South Korea alone, the world’s largest
duty free market, never fails to astound TRBusiness and this year appears to be no different for the country’s leading operators. They tell TRBusiness – in a truly comprehensive Korea market report starting on p76 – of their impressive double-digit revenue growth in 2018 and in Q1 2019. Although these same operators insist that they have not yet seen
the impact of China’s new e-commerce law – introduced in January – they can admit that there are other pressures that threaten to impact sales this year and beyond. As is explored on p76, competition downtown has intensified in
recent years and isn’t showing any signs of letting up as it is rumoured the Korean government will introduce more licences in the near future. While all downtown store operators are anxious about the introduction of yet more shops in a relatively small footprint (especially in Seoul), frankly it is the SME companies that are most likely to lose out.
Filling the void… While Korea continues to dominate the share of business in Asia, exciting developments persist in China. This is being prompted by rapid growth in the number of outbound travellers, but also the volume of domestic tourists, which recorded double-digit growth last year. In 2018, the number of domestic tourists in China reached 5.5bn,
an increase of +10.8%, according to Ctrip (read more on the China duty free market on p73). However, once again the health of the Asia Pacific duty free industry relies heavily on not just the number of Chinese travellers, but more importantly their spend, something which has been flagged as declining in recent months. On p26, ACI Asia-Pacific’s Patti Chau tells TRBusiness that the
organisation has observed – via a recent study – that many Chinese consumers are buying luxury goods in China, instead of travelling to places like Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong as they have done so often in the past. “This is obviously worrying for travel retail, especially airports in
the region that have their eyes on the Chinese travellers,” she says. While Chau does ascertain that numbers were still good in 2018, it is imperative that the industry prepares itself for a slowdown, focusing on the demands of customers from emerging ASEAN nations, along with Koreans and Indians which could fill the ‘void’, as Chau refers to it.
Charlotte Turner, Managing Editor MAY 2019
Chinese take highest share of DF&TR wallets, says m1nd-set
Chinese travellers emerged as the leading DF&TR spenders on purchases of more than $200, reveals data from the Top 10 Spending Nationalities report compiled exclusively for TRBusiness by m1nd-set. In a departure from last year’s Top 10 Spending Nationalities
report based on highest purchasing nationalities according to overall market share, this year’s rankings are based on average buyer spending, informed by insight from the Swiss research firm. Despite China’s lowered economic growth forecast, tax and
infrastructure cuts and the continued US trade war, duty free spending appears to be holding up nicely. A future slump in Chinese ‘daigou’ shuttle trader sales could yet
materialise, but in the meantime, footfall (54%), purchase (51%) and conversion (95%) rates remain healthy. The decision to purchase is made predominantly before the travel
phase begins – leaving for the airport (49%). This is followed closely by decisions made instore (31%), in the airport (11%) and on the way to the airport (10%). Pre-planned purchases remains extremely high (90%), with a
high volume (73%) of visitors planning their visits. Similar to last year’s findings, self consumption (48%) is the
chief reason for purchase, followed by gifting (35%), sharing (10%) and request (6%). Skincare is the most frequented (52%) and purchased (46%)
category. The average number of categories purchased stood at 3.7, of which Chinese purchased from 2.9 categories. Sitting second in the rankings for those nationalities
spending more than $200 were South Korean travellers, who continue to provide a lucrative source of income for DF&TR operators worldwide.
TRBUSINESS 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150
