Hong Kong, China – Consumer travel spending among the Chinese has been on an upward trend during the first half of the year, according to a study by iClick.
Duty-free products in Hainan province saw RMB 1.07 billion (US$167 million) in sales from July 1 to 15, with daily sales hitting RMB 71 million (US$10.3 million), a 30 percent rise over daily sales in June. iClick said the boost was helped by an increase in the tax free shopping quota in Hainan from RMB 28,000 (US$4,261) to RMB 100,000 (US$14,451) per person each year.
When the coronavirus pandemic took its toll early this year, the situation has dampened the confidence of many Chinese consumers at the onset. During the pandemic, surveys were conducted to find out how consumers feel about the situation.
In February, 49% of consumers expressed their optimism that the economy will recover in 2-3 months, while another 49% believes that the adverse impact of the pandemic will last 6-12 months or longer. As the signs of economic rebound began to manifest, optimism among the Chinese consumers gradually improved to 53% while pessimism fell to 40%.
Although more people are travelling with daily flights returning to nearly 80% of pre-epidemic volume in China in the month of July, there are still those that are staying on-ground and spending their money on local purchases.
The 6.18 midyear shopping festival brought in a reported RMB 1 trillion (US$144.5 billion) with Tmall Global direct reporting a GMV growth of 199% year-on-year and JD International enjoying a 110% boost over last year’s sales.
