Many premium fashion brands have opened top-performing outlets at Bicester Villages in China, including Shanghai (pictured).

Discount luxury fashion retail destinations continue to generate high-volume tax-free sales from Chinese travellers in Europe, data suggests.

The Bicester Village Shopping Collection (TBVSC), the new branding for parent company Value Retail’s *11 fashion retail destinations in Europe and China, reports that Chinese consumers accounted for 40% of its total (non-EU) tax-refunded sales across villages in Europe, a rise of +14% year-on-year.

As an official partner of EU-China Tourism – part of the European Travel Commission – TBVSC claims it remains one of ‘the key leaders’ in attracting Chinese travellers to Europe.

It adds that since 2006 it has achieved ‘consecutive years of consistent growth in tax-refunded (non-EU) sales’.

Around one third of sales at its European villages derive from non-EU visitors, with that level rising to as much as 75% at certain locations.

UNIFIED BRANDING

TBVSC has announced it has amalgamated its *11 fashion destinations across Europe and China to create a denser sales spread.

In 2017, Value Retail’s Bicester Village-branded locations welcomed nearly 40 million guests globally.

More than a third of customers who purchased luxury brands were first-time buyers, with 85% of them signalling they would buy from brands’ full-price stores.

Situated close to Palma, Italy, Fidenza Village offers 130 boutiques, combining international and Italian fashion brands such as Versace, Armani, Missoni, Calvin Klein and Diesel.

Average dwell time at the villages is four hours, with many overseas guests spending as much as five hours and spending more than £1,000 ($1,405) each.

The top three non-EU contributing markets to the villages in Europe in 2017 were China, the Middle East and Russia.

Value Retail formed joint venture Value Retail China in 2011, which runs two projects – Suzhou Village and Shanghai Village.

The latter is strategically situated in the emerging Pudong New District next to Shanghai Disney Resort within the multi-bilion dollar Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone.

Such has been the success of the villages in China that some have beaten the performances of their high-street counterparts.

Bicester Village, the first location in the TBVSC portfolio, was founded in Oxford in the UK in 1995.

Today, the portfolio’s 11 locations offer retail savings of up to 60% in Europe, where non-EU visitors can enjoy tax free discounts, and as much as 80% in China.

*TBVSC’s locations cover Kildare Village, Dublin; Bicester Village, London; La Vallée Village; Paris; Las Rozas Village, Madrid; La Roca Village, Barcelona; Fidenza Village, Milan; Ingolstadt Village, Munich; Maasmechelen Village, Brussels; Wertheim Village, Frankfurt; Suzhou Village, Suzhou; and Shanghai Village, Shanghai.