If you are wondering why there are suddenly Chinese shop signs cropping up in London‘s boutiques and department stores, there is a simple explanation. Golden Week is upon us.
The week long holiday, which begun yesterday, will see 1.3 billion people take a week off work at the same time and it is a time of travel, with London a key Chinese tourist destination.
Westfield London, which is in the top five tourist shopping destinations in London, is expecting strong Chinese tourist numbers during Golden Week.
In October 2012 during Golden Week, the Chinese tourist market accounted for 35 per cent of sales in The Village, Westfield London‘s luxury quarter, which was up 19 per cent on the previous year. In 2013 (January-August) Westfield London has experienced a 9 per cent increase in Chinese tourist spend with 9 per cent growth in fashion sales and 29 per cent growth in sport and leisure equipment.
Myf Ryan, Westfield Marketing Director – UK & Europe, said Chinese visitors have started to develop more eclectic and sophisticated tastes over the last five years and now buy across luxury and non-luxury British brands
“We have welcomed an increasing number of international Chinese shoppers to Westfield London year-on-year since opening in 2008. This year 17% of our non EU luxury shoppers were from China and we‘ve seen a 9% year-on-year increase in Chinese tourist spend in 2013 in The Village.
“We are very much looking forward to Golden Week this year and our retailers are ready to welcome a significant number of visitors to Westfield.”
Retailers at Westfield London will be celebrating with tailored offers for the occasion with Mandarin speakers on hand to assist shoppers.
Other brands will be entertaining in-store, including Tateossian who will be featuring Chinese themed products including, a dragon necklace and cufflinks and various items in the colour red.
A Tateossian spokesperson comments: “Tateossian has a large Chinese customer base so celebrating our clients is key. Helping them to enjoy their travels with exclusive offers and products is how we stay loyal to all our fans.”
Within the Westfield mall there will be a tailored range of tourist services including a multi-lingual concierge service, hotel delivery, handsfree shopping as well as the Westfield VIP tourist card which includes offers and services from leading Westfield retailers.
