While duty-free consumption on the tourist island of Hainan in southern China declined sharply in 2024, China Duty Free Group (CDFG) continues to focus on this destination. The Chinese group is also continuing to expand its territory, both in the Middle Kingdom and abroad.
Is China’s luxury Eldorado deflating?
Duty-free sales on the southern island of Hainan, a tropical and seaside tourist paradise, may be marking time, but they still appear to be buoyant for the local China Duty Free Group (CDFG).
According to Reuters, based on customs data, spending on duty-free goods by tourists visiting Hainan shrank considerably (-29%) last year, from 43.76 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) in 2023 to 30.94 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in 2024.
The number of visitors dropped by 16% to 5.683 million, compared with 6.756 million in 2023.
A clear downturn
This development marks a clear halt after the tripling of duty-free sales between 2019 and 2023, observed in Hainan. In addition to the rediscovery of their country by the Chinese after the pandemic, the increase in 2020 of purchasing limits in the island’s dozen duty-free shopping malls partly explained this growth.
Discover our plans Subscribe for 1€ Become an active member of the community of luxury leaders.
To continue reading this article, subscribe or log in to your account
Read also > DFS brings back Ed Brennan as CEO
Featured Photo: © Unsplash
