Skift Take
The Chinese aren't the only important market to pay attention to in Asia-Pacific.
The Chinese tourists resolved to buy luxury goods abroad may find themselves sharing the check-out line with Indian travelers at high-end department stores.
Like China, India is a developing economy with a myriad of people determined to impress their peers with symbols of wealth and status to deepen their standing in upper class society. This is evidenced in a recent YouGov and Time Inc. survey of more than 6,000 affluent travelers from 14 countries including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, U.K., Germany, France, UAE, India, China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia.
But shopping isn’t the only essential activity Indian travelers care about during travel–they allocate 29% of their trip budgets to other activities such as sightseeing. Affluent
Chinese travelers are the highest country in terms of shopping spend allocation, with 31% of their trip budgets going to the latest fashions, electronics or classic souvenirs.
Survey respondents are among the top 10% of income earners in each country and multiple generations were represented, such as millennials who had the largest percentage of respondents indicating they take a trip specifically for a luxury shopping experience (32%). Millennials also trend above the global average for seeking out luxury shopping experiences while traveling (when those aren’t the main purposes of a trip) and also for frequently buying luxury goods during a vacation that they probably wouldn’t purchase at home.
Chart 1: Non-Americans spend nearly twice as much on shopping than Americans do while traveling.
Chart 2: Indian respondents accounted for the highest percentage of travelers (53%) who said they take trips specifically for luxury shopping, nearly 20 percentage points higher than China and 27 percentage points higher than Asia-Pacific as a whole.
| Ever travel or take trips specifically to shop for luxury? |
|---|
| Global Average 18% |
| U.S. 8% |
| Canada 8% |
| Latin America 30% |
| Europe 8% |
| China 35% |
| Asia-Pacific (Excluding China) 26% |
| India 53% |
| UAE 19% |
Chart 3: More than any other respondents, Indian travelers also indicated that they frequently purchase luxury items while traveling that they probably wouldn’t buy back home.
| I frequently purchase expensive, luxury items while on vacation that I would be less likely to purchase at home |
|---|
| Global Average 41% |
| Millennials 60% |
| U.S. 31% |
| Canada 41% |
| Latin America 56% |
| Europe 32% |
| China 74% |
| Asia-Pacific (Excluding China) 46% |
| India 81% |
| UAE 62% |
Chart 4: When luxury shopping isn’t the main reason for a trip, Indian travelers are still one of the largest groups who seek out luxury goods abroad but the Chinese are by far the group that wants to shop the most.
| % seek out shopping experiences or luxury goods while traveling internationally |
|---|
| Global Average 37% |
| Millennials 53% |
| U.S. 26% |
| Canada 26% |
| Latin America 47% |
| Europe 15% |
| China 75% |
| Asia-Pacific (Excluding China) 46% |
| India 69% |
| UAE 39% |
Source: YouGov and Time Inc.
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Tags: luxury, skiftstats
Photo credit: Indian respondents accounted for the highest percentage of travelers (53%) who said they take trips specifically for luxury shopping in a YouGov and Time Inc. survey. Pictured here are tourists waiting outside the Chanel store at Harbour City shopping mall in Hong Kong. Slices of Light / Flickr