China’s travellers outspend even their Indian and Saudi peers, splashing twice the regional average on luxury goods, airport retail study says
Passengers from China have led the recovery in Asia’s airport retail since the Covid-19 pandemic, spending twice the regional average on luxury goods, according to a study by the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East released earlier this month.
China’s travellers have logged the “highest spend per passenger of any nationality” during the post-pandemic period, the association’s director general, Stefano Baronci, said earlier this month. Recovery in spending has outpaced that of passenger volumes, he added.
Many Chinese travellers choose to buy confectionary goods at airports to give as gifts back home, according to Baronci. About 27 per cent of passengers called these sweets their “preferred category”, with local products at 17 per cent and luxury goods at 12 per cent, he said.
“Chinese travellers display one of the most diversified retail baskets in our research report, rather than an over-concentration in a single category,” Baronci said.
