SHOPPING as a main motivator for travel is on the rise across advanced and emerging economies in the world, especially from Asia, and destinations must break down barriers to benefit from this.
This is the main message of the World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) new report that was released yesterday – Global Report on Shopping Tourism.
It stated that shopping was no longer incidental to travel but formed a “principal” reason for travelling for tourists. “With the appetite for shopping among travellers from both advanced and emerging economies on the rise, the development of shopping tourism is a phenomenon that is attracting increased attention from policy makers, academics and business leaders around the globe.”
The Chinese were singled out as a market particularly keen on shopping with a strong record of consumption of luxury goods. They spend at least 30 per cent of their travel budgets on shopping.
A TUI study cited by the report said that by 2015 Chinese shoppers will consume 22 per cent of all luxury goods produced in the world.
Similarly, the UNWTO report quoted PATA CEO, Martin J Craigs, who said Asia-Pacific “boasts some of the highest visitor expenditure on shopping as a proportion of the total travel budget”.
“For example, as data from PATA’s mPower market intelligence tool indicates, in 2012 visitors to Hong Kong spent almost 60 per cent of their travel budget on shopping. Visitors to Macau spent 49 per cent, visitors to South Korea spent 43 per cent and visitors to Japan dedicated 32 per cent of their travel budget to shopping expenses,” Craigs wrote.
In order to tap the lucrative potential of Asia-Pacific’s shoppers, UNWTO noted that the obstacles to the development of shopping tourism also affects the sector as a whole.
Key to benefiting from this market is “constant, structured and meaningful dialogue” between all stakeholders, as well as public-private partnerships.
These partnerships need to take into consideration factors such as accessibility (air connectivity, visas); infrastructure (transport); safety (political and social, crime); cleanliness; marketing and promotions; connecting the tourism value chain by bringing other tourism partners to the table; research and development on consumer trends and market behaviour; regulation (trading hours and taxation); and training and education for the workforce.
Download the full report at affiliatemembers.unwto.org/publication/global-report-shopping-tourism.
