As reported before, over complicated visa requirements for Chinese visitors are costing London’s shops more than $250m a year as many simply stay away.
 
This is according to comments attributed to Harrods’ Managing Director Michael Ward in relation to the Top Ten Globe Shopper Nations Review, released by tax-free refund experts, Global Blue yesterday. [See report: http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13559&Itemid=11].
 
Ward estimates that at least €200m ($264m) in retail revenue was lost to London’s West End last year from lost Chinese visitor spend and London and the UK didn’t fair much better with Russian tourists who have to endure a two-month process to obtain a visa [although it is even worse for UK citizens visiting Russia-Ed].
 
When visiting Europe, many Chinese travellers in particular just simply obtain a 26-country Schengen Area visa and travel to any of these countries without any trouble, missing out the UK altogether.