A study on airport retail shows that Chinese travelers outspend their Indian and Saudi peers at Asian airports, spending twice the regional average on luxury goods. Chinese passengers have led the recovery in Asia’s airport retail since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chinese travelers' spending habits at Asian airports have drawn attention. According to a study by the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East released earlier this month, Chinese passengers have recorded the “highest spend per passenger of any nationality” during the post-pandemic period. The association’s director general, Stefano Baronci, said that recovery in spending has outpaced that of passenger volumes.
The study found that Chinese travelers outspend their Asian peers at the region’s airports in search of gifts, food and luxury purchases. They spend twice the regional average on luxury goods. Baronci noted that many Chinese travelers choose to buy confectionary goods at airports to give as gifts back home, with about 27 per cent of passengers calling these sweets their “preferred category”, local products at 17 per cent and luxury goods at 12 per cent.
“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. This highlights the diversity in Chinese travelers' consumption.
The study underscores the leading role of Chinese travelers in the recovery of airport retail in Asia, with keywords mentioning places like the United Arab Emirates, India and Saudi Arabia, but focusing on overall Asian trends.