For one fleeting instant, an expression of intense exasperation flickered across the face of the immaculately groomed sales assistant in a chic Parisian department store as the Chinese tourists jostled and gestured at watches costing several thousand euros a piece.
Then she bit her lip and smiled. The Chinese visitors counting out wads of euros and engaged in what the Paris authorities call “fervent shopping” neither noticed nor seemed to care. They had cash, lots of it, burning holes in their pockets and, with visits to the Louvre and Versailles beckoning, not much time to spend it on the luxury goods and logos they were seeking.
The excited chatter was not so much about which monogrammed watch or leather handbag to buy, but how many.
As London frets over the bureaucratic obstacles placed in the way of high-spending visitors from Beijing or Shanghai, Paris is reaping the reward of an official drive to make the city the destination of choice for hundreds of thousands of increasingly affluent Chinese tourists.
“Let’s be perfectly clear, this is a competition with London, this is a battle between cities. Our goal is that Chinese visitors come to Paris, stay for longer and spend more money,” Francois Navarro, spokesperson for the Ile-de-France regional tourist authority, told the Observer. “Of course we prefer that Chinese tourists come to spend their money in Galeries Lafayette and not in Harrods.”
It helps that France is part of the Schengen area, the bloc of 26 European countries that requires only a single visa — a group that Britain has refused to join. The French authorities have gone further, establishing a joint-visa office in Beijing with the Germans in October last year to help Chinese visitors obtain travel documents quicker and more easily.
“Our figures show a rise of about 20 percent in the number of visas given since then, but it’s still not enough. We have fewer visa problems than London because of Schengen, but we have asked the French government to make it even easier for the Chinese to obtain visas,” Navarro said. “And our goal is to give them the best welcome possible.”
To this end, Paris has gone on another of its periodic charm offensives, sending hotels, cafes, shops and even taxi firms copies of a new booklet called Do You Speak Tourist? encouraging them to be “even more welcoming” to foreigners.
The Paris area draws 33 million tourists a year, creating about 600,000 direct and indirect jobs. It also claims to attract more international visitors — about 17 million — than any other city in the world, including 1 million Chinese tourists annually, compared with an estimated 110,000 Chinese visitors to London.
Britain’s tourist and retail authorities have long warned that the government’s tough visa restrictions, aimed at keeping out illegal immigrants, mean the UK is losing out on a growing appetite for international travel among increasingly affluent Chinese, to the tune of £1.2 billion (US$1.85 billion) a year.
The World Tourism Organization says the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad increased from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million last year. About half of them spend more than US$5,000 a trip and account for 25 percent of sales of luxury goods around the world, giving them considerable economic clout.
Last year, Shanghai-based Hurun Report reported that France had become the preferred destination for increasing numbers of China’s estimated 2.8 million dollar millionaires.
The Do You Speak Tourist? report claims that Chinese visitors spend 40 percent of their holiday budget shopping, mostly for luxury goods.
Britons, who make up the biggest number of Parisian tourists, spend 7 percent, and Americans 25.7 percent.
It says the Chinese, whom Navarro describes as “the kings of shopping,” want “luxury shopping above all” and “have an idealized and romantic vision of Paris.”
“A simple smile and a bonjour in their own language will keep them more than satisfied,” it says.
France’s attempts to present a welcoming face to the new tourists from China have suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks after a spate of muggings, including the beating up of a group of Asian wine students in Bordeaux earlier this month.
The incident was condemned in China and by French Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, aware of potential economic repercussions, as a “xenophobic attack.”
Last month, the Colbert committee, made up of 75 of France’s most prestigious luxury goods companies, including Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Chanel, Dior and Hermes, warned that foreign tourists, particularly Chinese visitors carrying lots of cash, were being deterred from visiting Paris because the city had become “synonymous with insecurity.”
However, Edouard Lefebvre of the Champs-Elysees committee, which represents 182 outlets on the celebrated boulevard, said shops were making special efforts to cater for Chinese shoppers, including having “someone who speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and other Chinese languages.”
“We’ve developed a service adapted to their needs, which includes delivering the items they buy to their hotels,” Lefebvre said.
And such is their spending power that sales staff, taxi drivers and even the stereotypical epitome of Gallic grumpiness, the Parisian waiter, are being encouraged to proffer a huang ying, guang lin or ni hao, in an effort to encourage the Chinese to part with their money. London and Britain take note.
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.