Offshore duty-free sales in Hainan province reached CNY785 million (US$111 million) during the all-important National Day holidays (Golden Week) from 1 to 7 October, the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Film and Television and Sports revealed this week in figures that underline continued soft Chinese consumption.
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Last year, Golden Week ran from 29 September to 6 October, generating sales of CNY1.33 billion (US$182.4 million) from 170,000 shoppers.
Even allowing for the extra shopping day in 2023, this year’s total graphically underlines the weakness of consumer spending with holiday sales down by -39.1% year-on-year (on a seven days vs eight basis).
The number of shoppers reached 110,200 this Golden Week with an average consumption of CNY7,124 (US$1,007) per person.
This year the province received 4.13 million tourists, up +10.7% year-on-year on a comparable basis. Among them, there were 1.63 million overnight visitors, a +12.4% increase, and 2.5 million day-trip tourists, up +9.5%.
Total visitor expenditure of tourists rose just +1.1% to CNY5.74 billion (US$811.7 million), further evidence of dampened consumer sentiment.
The average occupancy rate of guest rooms in tourist accommodation units across the province was 63.24%, a year-on-year increase of +3.2%.
Hainan’s duty-free retailers ran a host of promotions to drive consumption during an all-important period for the sector.
They cooperated with multiple brands to open pop-up stores, provide discounts, offer membership points and gifts, and host testings and tastings. The Hainan provincial government also issued consumer coupons to further boost spending.
(Source: The Moodie Davitt Report)