[Sanya, 9th March, 2013] The supplier conference was held in picturesque Sanya to mark the construction of the Sanya Begonia Bay International Shopping Center by China Duty Free Group (CDF) with biggest names in the duty free business present. Nearly 120 guests from first-tier luxury brand names like Dior, Burberry, Bvlgari, Cartier, etc. and world-famous department stores gathered here in Begonia Bay known as the most beautiful part of the Chinese national coast and a gorgeous international holiday destination to negotiate about their plans of cooperation. Related leaders of the Sanya Begonia Bay Administration Board, chairman and secretary of the party committee of CITS Group Corporation, Wang Weimin, chairman of the CDF, Peng Hui, president of TFWA, Erik Juul-Mortensen and the special guest from the authorized publication on the international travel market, the Moodie Report, Martin Moodie were present at the event.
Top brands gathered in Sanya proving the success of Sanya in attracting investment
At the conference, vice president of CDF, Chen Guoqiang, gave a general introduction to the Begonia Bay International Shopping Center Project, comprehensively and systematically introducing to the audience the ideas for the planning and the future of the project. Also during the speech, he actively interacted with the guests about the new changes in the travel market of Hainan. The representatives at the conference reached an agreement on the strategy for the international travel island and its huge development chances and the reappearance of the influence of the off-island duty free policy on the upstream and downstream enterprises of the duty free industry and the travel retail industry. Moreover, brands like Ferragamo, Bally, Zegna, Swatch, and the luxury tycoon, LVMH, signed their strategic cooperation agreements with CDF, showing both a good start and an excellent result.
According to the person in charge of CDF, over 120 suppliers from top international brands attended this conference. Currently, 23 initiative cooperation plans have been made. In the near future, consumers will enjoy shopping with top international brands at duty free prices with a much wider range of choices. Not only does this show the confidence of these brands in the duty free market of China, but it is also an affirmation for CDF.
Integrating various businesses, providing a comprehensive structure for the tourist destination of Hainan
It is said that the Begonia Bay International Shopping Center of CDF will go through a trial run at the end of 2013. Following the construction concept of “referring to international standards and joining the world’s top tier” and centering round the theme of begonias, the shopping center is going to feature an architectural style focused on fashion, fantasy and elegance. The center will gather various businesses types including shopping, entertainment, catering, Hainan culture displays etc., providing customers with a more comfortable and consumer-friendly shopping environment. In the future, the Begonia Bay International Shopping Center of CDF will be a duty free shopping center with most international top brands and will be of the highest class in China, improving and upgrading the overall quality, scale and comprehensive operation capacity of China’s duty free industry. It will become another landmark of Sanya and a featured and energetic integrated tourist destination on the international tourist island of Hainan.
Apart from this, the Begonia Bay International Shopping Center of CDF is located at Begonia Bay in Sanya. It is very near to Yalong Bay and about 30 minutes’ drive from Sanya duty free store of CDF. The Begonia Bay International Shopping Center will cover the 35 five-star hotels of Begonia Bay and Yalong Bay. The official launch in 2014 will see the two duty free stores’ extend to all the five-star hotels and over 95% of all the hotels in Sanya. The tourists will be able to choose from a nearer duty free store for shopping. This will effectively balance supply and demand and improve the shopping experience of customers. As has been introduced elsewhere, CDF is planning to open a duty free store in Sanya Phoenix Airport which again improves the duty free system in Sanya.
The establishment of a large-scale retail platform and improving the quality of duty free industry
Since November 2010 when the CITS Group Corporation and the Sanya Begonia Bay Administration Board signed a project treaty for the “Hainan International Duty Free City”, the project of the Begonia Bay International Shopping Center of CDF of over 5 billion yuan of investment has become the leading project in Hainan. It has received attention and support from the provincial and city government of Hainan. As another heavy-weight retail platform of CDF, the Begonia Bay International Shopping Center will further improve its management and operation ability in traditional trade and establish an operation model for inner city stores and large-scale duty free business entities in the future. This will improve the overall quality and integrated operation ability of CDF and even the duty free industry of China, offering a duplicable operation model and valuable experience to other business entities.
Relevant data shows that since the official implementation of the off-island duty free policy on 1st May, 2011, the accumulative sales turnover has reached 4.2 billion yuan with an average daily turnover of 6.2 million yuan and a per capita expenditure of 2300 yuan. After the implementation of the flexible policy on 1st November, a magnificent growth of 33% in per capita expenditure on a year-to-year basis at the Sanya duty free store of CDF directly proved again the effectiveness of the off-island duty free policy. The milestone of a 30 million yuan daily revenue intake during the golden week of the spring festival highlighted duty free shopping in Hainan and even around China. According to an insider, the mode of “travel + duty free shopping” creates a huge market space with an increasing demand for luxury items from the Chinese.
The Begonia Bay International Shopping Center Project of CDF further enhances the overall attractiveness and comprehensive competence of Hainan compared with surrounding countries and districts. It adds a brand new sign of modern tourism and a business attraction for Sanya and will drive and guarantee the continuous growth of the travel market of Hainan. A significant part will be added to the grand construction plan of the international travel island of Hainan.