Shopping: Chinese spend 16 million euros in Italy

According to a survey by Global Refund, the world leader of the tax-free system, 107 thousand Chinese tourists visited Italy and spent over 16 million euros on shopping in 2004. Favorite items were clothing at 47% (7.5 million euros), followed by leather goods (34%, equal to 5.3 million euros) and footwear (9%, 1.5 million euros).

35% of Chinese tourists chose Milan, 27% Rome and 19% Florence; of these, the keenest shoppers were highly-educated men of between 35 and 50 years of age, 86% of whom were married.

The Chinese travel in groups, opt for three-star hotels and concentrate their trips to Italy between the end of April and the beginning of May, during their national holiday in October, at the end of January for the Chinese New Year, and in February for the spring vacation.

The Global Refund survey also revealed certain interesting taboos, such as not liking objects that have been touched by others, or have been mass produced. In short, the Chinese want the exclusiveness of rare, not to say unique, pieces, and made to measure items. Prices in store windows must never include the number 4, as it is very similar to the ideogram for 'death', or 250, which is similar to the Chinese symbol for 'idiot'. Acceptable numbers are 6, meaning 'luck', 8 meaning wealth', and 9 meaning 'long-lasting'.

As far as colors are concerned, yellow and blue combos don't go down well as they are typical of Chinese funeral ceremonies. From the point of view of purchases, increasingly popular is the tax-free system by which travelers who are resident outside the European Union can have VAT reimbursed when they leave.

(Source: Milano Finanza Fashion)