The imminent arrival of EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY) 2018 could deliver a welcome bonus boost to travel retail beauty sales to Chinese travellers next year – especially as 41% traditionally buy skincare products.

 

As a result, travel retail analyst, research and ‘category expert’ CiR says a good deal of extra attention to this factor could pay big dividends for travel retailers if numbers of Chinese visitors increase as expected.

 

‘SKINCARE’ MOST POPULAR WITH CHINESE

Underlining the importance of the beauty sector – which is obviously widely understood in the industry – CiR said: “Beauty is a crucial shopping category for the Chinese – with some sub-sectors proving irresistible. Some 41% buy skincare, which compares to just 25% for the average global buyer in DF&TR, according to CIR research. For cosmetics the difference is also significant: 39% versus 30%.”

 

Looking at Chinese Shoppers and how they shop (see table, above) the travel retail analyst says the penetration level of Chinese customers in beauty departments is also much higher at 30%, compared with the ‘global average’ of 23%.

 

BIG AVERAGE SPEND DIFFERENTIALS

Translated into hard dollar estimates, CiR says the average beauty spend is $164, versus ‘a global shopper’s $120’, whilst in terms of brands, Estée Lauder and Dior are said to ‘stand out on the demand curve’, with 18% versus a 4% global average for Lauder, and 13% versus 7% for Dior.

 

According to data research from its Business Lounge (CiR’s business intelligence arm), Chinese outbound travellers up to March 2018 are still expected to travel mainly to intra-Asian destinations (based on scheduled departing seat capacities).

 

Having said that, CiR has also identified several European destinations where its latest year-on-year 12-month forecasts to March 2018 point to some very specific ‘potential’ growth markets.

 

TOP 5 GROWTH MARKETS…

Within this, the analyst says the top five growth markets for Chinese are expected to be: Georgia (+93%), Belgium (+62%), Switzerland (+39%), Spain (+28%), and Russia (+24%).

 

Commenting on the company’s findings, Garry Stasiulevicuis, Founder and President of CiR said: “Duty free and travel retailers across Europe – but especially in the markets we have highlighted above – should be gearing up their businesses for the Chinese influx.

 

“As the ECTY gets underway, EU destinations will become more visible to the Chinese and that should translate to a much improved EU arrivals picture in 2018 in general. Operators and beauty brands need to be geared up to understand this opportunity.”

 

CiR adds that the Chinese are obviously ‘a top-spending nationality’ in European duty free and travel retail, although they represent just 2% of total international arrivals into the EU in terms of hard numbers – according to the European Tourism Commission.

 

CiR says the fact that the EU has promised to make quick progress on EU-China visa facilitation and air connectivity may well help to increase this share if it achieves these two aims.

 

TOP MARKETS: RUSSIA, GERMANY AND FRANCE

Looking at the present travel trends around the Chinese presence in Europe, CiR says that in the 12 months to July, a total of 3.7m Chinese travelled to the continent from their home country, with the CiR Business Lounge pointing to a rise of +14.3%.

 

Based on international flights to Europe, the top three destinations were Russia with a 22% share, Germany (16%), and France (14%).

 

From a city/airport perspective, the top three arrival points were Paris Charles de Gaulle (14% share), Moscow Sheremetyevo (13%) and Frankfurt (12%), while the top carriers were Air China (22%), China Eastern (10%) and China Southern (10%).

 

For further information, contact Alison Hughes, CiR Beauty Director mail to: [email protected]