中国游客：全球最具影响力的购物群体
BBC维吉妮·曼金（Virginie Mangin）(2023年8月28日)
图片来源：Getty Images
张玲（音译）是一位36岁的中国工程师，她第一次去欧洲旅游时，毫不犹豫地选择巴黎作为第一站。
“我所有的朋友都对我说，巴黎是‘必去’的地方。他们说巴黎浪漫，漂亮，那里的人们都很优雅，”她说道。她又补充说，未来五年她一定会再去。
巴黎是中国新的热门度假目的地。2014年，约60万到80万中国游客到访巴黎，比上年增长近20%。巴黎地区的旅游主管部门认为该增长趋势会持续下去。
甚至最近人民币贬值都未能影响中国游客购买奢侈品的热情。虽然经济学家对中国经济增速放缓感到担心，但是零售业的分析人士并不认为这会对购买趋势带来重大、直接的影响。
法国巴黎银行集团首席经济学家威廉姆·德·威德（William de Vijlder）把巴黎的中国游客分为两类，一类是超级富豪，另一类是普通游客。他说虽然后者受到中国股市下跌的影响较大，“不过目前的情况尚不足以影响他们的消费模式。”
他补充道，一旦“人们决定去旅行，他们就已经做好了预算，他们在奢侈品店里不会犹豫不决买哪个钱包，或不买哪个。”
巴黎已经为疯狂购物的游客铺好了红地毯。整个城市的魅力攻势进一步升级，从酒店打折，到购物体验，从基于中文的手机应用，到包括美白乳液、限量版手提包和干邑白兰地等在内的专门针对亚洲人偏好的奢侈品，数不胜数，其中一些还特别在中国的春节期间发布。
为了改善与中国游客的沟通，巴黎旅游局最近还发了一本名为《你会和游客沟通吗？》的小册子，为出租车司机、酒店和餐馆提供建议，帮助他们提供更加热情的服务。
中国设计师在巴黎举办高级时装秀。（图片来源：Getty Images）
天生爱购物
中国游客之所以受到特殊对待，是因为他们热爱购买诸如手表，皮具和时尚品等奢侈品。
巴黎对此非常认真，进行周密的计划，就像是一次战略行动。“我记得第一次去巴黎时，我们团在老佛爷百货公司（Galleries Lafayette）等商场里逛了八个小时。”王伟（音译）说道。他曾于2006年参团来到法国，迄今为止已来过四次。“中国游客会在网上比价，看哪些产品还没有进入中国。他们非常清楚自己想要买什么。”
法国中央大区旅游厅（Comité Régional du Tourisme）估计每位中国游客每次旅游平均开支大约是1100欧元，比其他任何国家都要高。唯一比较接近的是俄罗斯人，平均每人花费约1076欧元。
“对中国人来说，带一些法国特产回去馈赠亲友是一种义务。在巴黎买到的香奈儿包和在北京买到的感觉是不一样的。”法国中央大区旅游厅的董事总经理弗朗索瓦·纳瓦罗（Francois Navarro）说道。
其他刺激中国游客增加海外消费的因素还包括较低的消费税、有利的汇率以及正品保证。
游客可以在离开欧盟国家以后申请增值税退税。由于中国对奢侈品征收重税（消费税税率为5%至20%，进口关税高得离谱，可以高达180%），这意味着一些欧洲奢侈品在海外的价格不到中国的一半。
购物狂
根据汇丰银行今年2月发布的报告，中国游客目前占法国奢侈品销售总额的比例惊人，已经达到40%， 因此巴黎的众多零售商将继续竭尽全力吸引中国游客。
卢浮宫百货公司（grands magasins）— 相当于伦敦的哈洛德百货公司（Harrods）或纽约的布鲁明戴尔百货店（Bloomingdales）— 以及香榭丽舍大街上的商店和旺多姆广场（Place Vendome）周围的奢侈品店铺和珠宝商正在使用很多或明或暗的策略，迎合中国游客的喜好。
他们提供免费无线上网、会说中文的员工、贵宾休息室以及游客专用快速购物通道，专门为游客保留，两旁摆满了最受中国游客欢迎的商品。中国游客通常在巴黎只停留一天半，基本不会有时间悠闲地漫步于大型商场中。
“我们有一位会说中文的迎宾，逐个地欢迎中国顾客。购买的商品会直接递送到他们下榻的宾馆。我们不断作各种调整，根据顾客的需求提供量身定制的购物体验。”巴黎第七区的高端百货乐蓬马歇百货公司（Bon Marché）的顾客关系副主管玛丽·巴特（Marie Bart）说。
他们的中国客户主要是高净值人士，会不假思索地挥霍重金购买法国的小众奢侈品牌，比如Roger Vivier的鞋和包、Moyna的首饰，这在中国都难得一见。
乐蓬马歇百货公司设了一个贵宾免税部，让一些购物者在专属的休息室里当场完成增值税退税。百货公司甚至还延长了餐馆的营业时间，以满足有时差反应的购物者的用餐需求。
巴黎的其他百货商店，诸如法国春天（Le Printemps）、老佛爷百货公司（后者仍然被认为是初到巴黎的游客必须前往膜拜的圣地），也推出类似的特别服务。根据3E咨询，中国游客现在占老佛爷百货公司总收入的30%以上。老佛爷百货公司对此拒绝置评。
高速购物通道？
以往，圣诞节后的几个月巴黎的零售业往往销售疲软。现在情况完全不一样了。中国春节期间，老佛爷百货公司每天迎接100辆载着中国游客的大巴，这样每天可能有4000人进门。
他们享受贵宾待遇，迎宾带他们从专属的通道进入百货公司，配备私人购物助理。外界普遍认为百货公司会给这些购物助理发放佣金，但百货公司拒绝置评。
时装是巴黎成人礼舞会的必备品。（图片来源：Getty Images）
“这些商店的发展趋向是进一步分割购物空间，提高效率。一些收银台专门面向初次到访的游客，因为他们的时间有限，并且有需要完成的购物清单。而贵宾休息室则面向更加富裕的消费者，他们往往不希望和大批游客挤在一起。” 汇丰银行消费和零售业股票研究部主管、《The Bling Dynasty》（金光闪闪的王朝）的作者埃尔文·兰博格（Erwan Rambourg）说道。
这些大百货公司展示新商品的方式过去五年也发生了变化，主要原因就是来自中国的顾客。现在，巴黎、北京和上海的橱窗里陈列的商品基本是一样的。
“巴黎的商店本地人生意很少，随着（中国]）旅游限制的放宽，我相信这个趋势不会有变化。” 兰博格说道。
他对市场的发展趋势充满信心，认为最近的金融市场波动影响将微乎其微。“货币贬值显然会影响中国游客的购买倾向，但是就目前的贬值程度而言……小于5%的降幅几乎没有什么影响，中国游客还是会觉得巴黎又便宜又好玩，”兰博格补充道。
一些百货商店正在见证中国时代的来临。被奢侈品控股公司路易威登买下的莎玛丽丹百货公司（La Samaritaine）曾关门歇业，多年来，翻新改造的议案一直因规划争议而搁置。
公司曾经设计了一个巨大的翻修计划，要建造法国第一个面向中国游客的位于市中心的、奢侈品免税商业大厦，其中包括一座富丽堂皇的酒店。但是，这项耗资4.7亿欧元（5.59亿美元）的装修工程搁置已久，虽然最近开始有点动静，但至少目前尚未启动。
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The world’s most influential shoppers
“All my friends told me it was a ‘must-stop.’ They told me it was romantic, beautiful, full of elegant people,” she said, adding she will definitely return in the next five years.
France’s capital is China’s new favourite holiday destination. Between 600,000 and 800,000 Chinese tourists visited Paris in 2014, an increase of nearly 20% on the previous year. The Paris region tourist board is confident this trend will continue.
While painful, even the recent shares nosedive and devaluation of the Chinese currency looks unlikely to dent the Chinese passion for luxury shopping. So while economists agonise over deceleration of growth, retail analysts aren’t convinced it will have an immediate impact on the buying trend.
BNP Paribas, group chief economist, William de Vijlder, draws a distinction between the super-wealthy, and other Chinese tourists in Paris. He said that although the latter will be more impacted by stock market declines in China, “at this level it won’t make a dent in their spending patterns.”
de Vijlder added that once “people decide to travel they have already looked at the numbers, they don’t then pause in front of a luxury shop considering which purse to buy, or not to buy.”
Paris has rolled out the red carpet for its shopaholic visitors. The city as a whole has stepped up the charm offensive with hotel discounts; shopping experiences; Mandarin-language mobile phone applications and luxury products catered to Asian tastes from skin whitening creams to limited edition handbags and Cognac, some specifically launched during Chinese New Year.
To improve communication with Chinese tourists, the tourist board has recently published a booklet called Do you speak tourist for taxi drivers, hotels and restaurants with advice on how to be more welcoming.
Born to shop
What makes the Chinese traveller so worth accommodating in particular is their deep love of luxury shopping, from watches to leather goods and fashion.
And it’s taken very seriously, planned like a strategic operation. “I recall the first time I went to Paris, our group spent more than eight hours in shopping malls, including Galleries Lafayette,” said Wang Wei, 37, who visited in 2006 with a tour group and has since returned four times. “Chinese tourists look online, compare prices, see what products have not come out in China yet. They know exactly what they want to buy”.
The Comité Régional du Tourisme estimates that on average a Chinese tourist spends roughly 1100 euros per trip, more than any other nationality, the only other that comes close are the Russians, who spend around 1076 euros per person.
“It’s compulsory for them to come back with gifts made in France. A Chanel bag bought in Paris is just not the same as if it was bought in Beijing,” said Francois Navarro, the managing director of Comité Régional du Tourism.
Other incentives for Chinese travellers to spend more overseas, include lower sales tax, favourable exchange rates and the certainty that the product they’re buying is authentic.
Visitors can reclaim value added tax (VAT) back after leaving European Union countries. And, as luxury products are heavily taxed in China (with levies such as a consumption tax between 5-20% and import tariffs that can reach an eye-watering180%) this means some luxury goods can be up to half-price in Europe.
Spend-a-holics
Chinese tourists currently account for a staggering 40% of all luxury sales in France, according to an HSBC report published in February, so many of Paris’ retailers will continue to do whatever it takes to draw them in.
The “grands magasins” – the equivalent of Harrods in London or Bloomingdales in New York – as well as the shops on the Champs Elysées, plus the luxury boutiques and jewellers around Place Vendome are all using a number of subtle and not so subtle tactics to cater to Chinese shopping whims.
They provide free wi-fi; Mandarin-speaking staff; VIP lounges and dedicated express shopping lanes. The space is reserved specifically for tourists and the lanes are decked with a selection of Chinese shoppers’ favourites. Often Chinese tourists are in Paris just a day and half which leaves little time to walk idly through the vast shopping malls.
“All Chinese clients are personally welcomed by a hostess speaking Chinese. Shopping items are delivered to their hotel directly. We continuously adapt so that their shopping experience is tailored to their needs,” said Marie Bart, deputy director of relations with clients of the Bon Marché, a high-end department store in the seventh arrondissement of Paris.
Their typical Chinese client is a high-net-worth individual who does not hesitate to splurge on niche French luxury brands such as Roger Vivier shoes or bags and accessories from Moyna, which are harder to find in China.
Bon Marché has created a VIP de-tax bureau, where certain shoppers can have VAT reimbursed on-site in a dedicated lounge. The store even offers extended hours in the in-house restaurant which allows continuous service for jet-lagged shoppers who need to refuel.
Similar perks are offered at Paris’ other big department stores such as Le Printemps or the Galleries Lafayette, (the latter is still considered the holy grail for the first-time visitor). According to consultant, 3E, Chinese tourists now represent more than 30% of the Galleries Lafayette’s total revenues. Galleries Lafayette declined to comment.
High-speed shopping lanes?
The months following Christmas and January sales used to be a slow time for Paris. Not anymore. During Chinese New Year, Galleries welcomes as many as 100 busloads of Chinese tourists a day. That’s potentially 4,000 tourists walking through their doors daily.
Treated as VIPs, they’re ushered through their own private entrance and offered a personal assistant. The shop is thought to pay some commission to the agent that accompanies these tourists but it declined to comment.
“These shops are going towards a model where shopping space is more and more segmented and efficient. There are the shopping tills for the first-time tourist which only has an allocated amount of time and a shopping list to go through, and the VIP lounge for the more wealthy consumer that does not want to mix with the crowd”, said Erwan Rambourg, head of consumer and retail equity research at HSBC and author of The Bling Dynasty.
The way these mega-brands show off their new products has also changed over the past five years, driven largely by Chinese buyers. These clients can now see the same items in shop windows in Paris, Beijing and Shanghai.
“Paris stores are selling very little to locals, and as travel restrictions [from China] ease, I believe this will only go one way,” Rambourg said.
He is confident the recent market volatility will have little impact on the trend. “A weaker currency obviously will have an influence on the propensity to buy from Chinese tourists, but not much at the current levels." Rambourg believes there will be a negligible impact given how much cheaper and how much more exciting Paris will still seem to the Chinese traveller.
Some stores saw the Chinese takeover coming. A controversial redevelopment of closed department store, La Samaritaine, purchased by luxury holding LVMH (which owns Louis Vuitton), proposed several years ago was mired for years in a planning dispute but has finally been given the go-ahead.
The business plans a major renovation project to create France’s first downtown, luxury, duty free store complex with Chinese tourists in mind, as well as a palatial hotel.