Wealthy Chinese travelers flock to Europe, especially France

BEIJING, China - Chinese luxury travelers are increasingly attracted to Europe and especially France for buying luxury goods, more than the United States and Singapore, according to a study by Shanghai-based Hurun Report on data from 2012.

Some 2.8 million Chinese are now millionaires in dollars, with a personal fortune exceeding 6 million yuan (714,000 euros), according to the survey released Monday.

France is cited as the favorite tourist destination for wealthy Chinese, just ahead of the United States. Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Italy fill out the leading group, which comprises mostly European countries.

43% of these Chinese luxury tourists spend over 5,000 dollars (3,800 euros) per trip. Chinese tourists now buy one-fourth of duty-free products worldwide, according to the leading tax refund company Global Blue, as cited by the study.

Four out of five millionaires surveyed expect to send their children abroad and reveal their order of preference for purchasing a second home to be the United States (especially the west coast), Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Sydney.

In Europe, there is stiff competition to capture the Chinese tourist market. Last October, France and Germany jointly opened a visa center to facilitate and accelerate visa entry procedures into the Schengen Area.
In 2012, China became number one for tourist spending abroad, with purchases totaling 102 billion dollars (75.5 billion euros) as reported by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in April.

The UNWTO attributed this record-breaking data to the Chinese’ rising incomes and eased restrictions on leaving the country.

The number of Chinese travelers abroad increased from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012, said the UNWTO. At the same time, the amount of money spent by these travelers abroad has nearly increased eightfold.