Haneda Airport Tokyo International Air Terminal (TIAT) duty free sales are in strong double-digit growth thanks to the weaker yen.

 

 

Total airside duty free, tax free and luxury boutique sales at Tokyo’s downtown airport rose by 19% between January and July 2013, boosted by foreigners taking advantage of the weaker yen, while sales offset a fall in Japanese passenger numbers compared with the same period last year.

 

Speaking exclusively to TRBusiness, Hideki Hayashi, Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation’s Vice President for Sales and Marketing said: “Boutique sales are very good, especially for Chanel, Hermès, Rolex, Tiffany, Salvatore Ferragamo, Cartier, Omega and Burberry. These brands did very well from January to July this year. They all have more than a 20% increase in sales compared to the same period last year. Four of them have over 50% increases in sales.”

 

He added: “Jewellery and watches are very strong. This year the yen is weak, so prices at Haneda are good. The exchange rate change has been very rapid. For Japanese customers prices overseas are high, so they buy at departure and get good Japanese language service.”

 

Hideki Hayashi, Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation’s Vice President for Sales and Marketing.

 

$5,000+ WATCHES AND JEWELLERY SPEND

Hayashi said that watches priced at ¥500,000 ($5,082) and above are selling well at present, with jewellery priced at ¥500,000 and higher also in demand.  Haneda Airport’s total airside retail sales – including duty free, tax free, luxury boutique and duty paid items – reached around ¥16.7bn ($169.7m) in the year ending March 31, 2013 (FY 2012), compared with more than ¥15bn ($152.4m) in the previous year – Haneda TIAT’s the first full year of operation.

 

Apart from luxury boutique sales, other categories enjoying double-digit growth from January to July this year included perfume (+13%); cosmetics (+11%); liquor (+12%); and Japanese general merchandise products (+15%). The only category to fall was tobacco (-4%).

 

Japanese passengers, mainly businessmen, accounted for 61% of purchases in the luxury boutiques from January to July this year, while Hayashi said that South Korean visitors made 15% of purchases and Mainland Chinese passengers matched them with the same percentage share of sales.

 

In other duty free shops at Haneda TIAT, Japanese passengers accounted for 52% of purchases from January to July, while South Korean travelers accounted for 13% of purchases and Mainland Chinese 10%, he said.

 

Luxury boutiques have performed strongly at Haneda.

 

TRAFFIC STEADY AT 2.2M

Meanwhile, Haneda Airport handled some 2.2m international departing passengers between January and July this year, the same number over the same period in 2012 when Japanese travelers accounted for 65% of all Haneda’s departing passengers.

 

Japanese departing passenger numbers have fallen this year, however. According to government figures for January to May 2013, the number of Japanese departing from Haneda to overseas destinations fell by 8.7%, while the number of foreign departing passengers rose 26%.

 

“Chinese and South Korean passengers have increased some month – for example, at Chinese New Year and at cherry blossom time. Also, passengers from other countries like Thailand and Taiwan,” said Hayashi.

 

“There are less Japanese passengers and less Japanese spending. Japanese are buying cheaper items, but they also are buying in boutiques. Japanese purchasing power is still strong.”

 

[Photo credit: David Hayes. Copyright TRBusiness].