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The series aims to provide fresh insights into the characteristics of each of the major travelling nationalities and this first edition takes a close look at the much sought after luxury Chinese traveller. All data comes from the Air4casts' Luxury Shopper platform that combines travel and luxury airport shop intelligence with bespoke quarterly consumer polling.
In 2023 the number of super rich, high net worth individuals in China fell for the first time since 2019 and while there has been some press coverage about the flight of millionaires from China it is just worth bearing in mind that millionaires, by their very nature, can be very mobile; but on the evidence no more mobile than dissatisfied millionaires anywhere else.
A Different Type of Traveller
Travelling Chinese high net worth individuals differ in several respects from the Chinese travelling population as a whole. They tend to be a little older, with half of them aged over 40, they live predominantly in Shanghai and Beijing. They of course travel First or Business Class but a significant 7% of them travelled by private jet on their last international trip.
While Beijing Capital and Shanghai Hongqiao dominate the share of private jets leaving for overseas destinations, both airports on Hainan Island boast a significant number of wealthy residents using private aircraft to jet off abroad.
A Varied Range of Travel Destinations
When asked about their next trip intentions in the most recent Q3 poll the 1000 strong high net worth consumer panel chose Japan as their preferred ultimate destination, followed by the USA and France.
Australia and Italy's shares have remained consistent throughout each of the three quarterly polls so far this year while France ceded the first slot to Japan in the latest survey. Coincidentally the numbers of international private jet bookings from China next quarter show no fewer than four Japanese airports in the global top 10.
Luxury Airport Boutiques Attract Luxury Travellers
Currently over 40% of luxury stand-alone boutiques are at European airports with the Asia/Pacific region fast catching up. For the wealthy Chinese traveller this presents them with ample opportunity to purchase throughout their travels. In the latest Q3 poll over a fifth of those surveyed visited a luxury boutique at the airport at least once during their last trip and of those well over half actually made a purchase.
The Top Luxury Terminals
For those affluent mainlanders changing flights for onward travel at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) the choice of luxury outlets is the largest in the world. Fortunately for luxury retailers it is also the single largest destination outside the mainland for private jets flying in from China’s airports.
HKIA Terminal 1 currently has a healthy lead over both Doha and Istanbul in second and third place respectively. Milan's Terminal 1 and Paris CDG 2E lead the luxury field in Western Europe.
The choice of luxury brand boutiques on offer to the super rich Chinese traveller at global hub airports is good with a strong focus on the internationally recognised brand leaders.
Burberry takes the top slot for number of boutiques by a whisker from Bvlgari and Hermès with Chanel in fifth place. In contrast at the brand owner level the picture is different again with the LVMH luxury brands together taking first place ahead of Kering and Richemont.
