Europe Isn’t Ready: The Chinese Traveller Has Evolved. Has Duty-Free?
5 minutes read
Introduction by: Peter Marshall
Imagine this: A Chinese Gen Z traveller books her ticket to Paris two weeks before departure. She’s already finalised her skincare wish list via Xiaohongshu posts, previewed prices on Ctrip, watched an influencer tour on Douyin – and hasn’t stepped foot into a single store.
She doesn’t enter the airport to discover new products. She expects the store to have already discovered her.
This isn’t the future. This is 2025.
This thought provoking, punchy and exclusive op-ed written by Subramania Bhatt, Founder and CEO of China Trading Desk, really hits the nail on the head. European travel retail may still think it’s ready to meet the needs of today’s Chinese traveller but, as you will read, there is a yawning gap between delivery and expectation. European travel retailers are still using the 2019 playbook.
It’s a timely piece to publish on TRunblocked.com as we enter the holiday season. Importantly, there are also some key suggestions from Subramania as to what retailers should embrace – now.
This is thought leadership. This is TRunblocked.com
The Chinese Traveller Has Changed. Retail Hasn’t.
The European Travel Commission’s Long-Haul Travel Barometer 2/2025 reveals that 72% of Chinese travellers now intend to visit Europe this summer – a 10-point increase year-on-year, and the only long-haul market to show growth. In contrast, sentiment from Brazil, Canada, Japan and the US has softened amid economic caution and global uncertainty .
And yet, this enthusiasm is not translating evenly into bookings or retail conversion. Why?
The Demand Is There, But the Experience Gap Is Growing
According to our Q2 2025 China Outbound Travel Survey of over 16,500 respondents, Chinese traveller sentiment is not just high – it’s accelerating. While the ETC notes “price sensitivity” and lower trip frequency in most source markets, Chinese travellers buck that trend:
- 55% plan to spend over ¥25,000 per trip (~€3,200)
- 74% of high-spenders prefer 4- and 5-star hotels
- ETC highlights shopping and transport as top spending categories for Europe-bound travellers. However, in our CTD survey, shopping takes less precedence — ranking behind accommodation, air tickets, food, and tourist attractions.
But unlike the past, this shopper is arriving with specific expectations formed upstream, via platforms like Xiaohongshu, Douyin and WeChat Channels and not at the airport.
The Rebound Is Over. This is a Behavioural Rest.
Over 37% of Chinese international travellers are first-timers, a surge compared to 32% in Q1. These are not returnees reactivating loyalty programmes – they are new explorers relying on mobile content and peer reviews to script their own travel identities. Platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin now drive destination discovery, replacing traditional OTAs as the first point of contact.
Where Europe excels in cultural heritage, walkable cities, and seasonal events, it now needs to turn that strength into digital storytelling. Itineraries, safety guides, and shopping tips need to appear within a 30-second scroll. Visibility is no longer a function of reputation; it’s a product of virality.
But this isn’t just a wave of pent-up demand. This is a structurally new market: younger, more digital, more discerning — and harder to impress.
A Crisis of Visibility, Not Demand
The ETC notes that Europe’s top draws for Chinese travellers include “landmarks, food, culture, and natural scenery.” But the route to these destinations is now digital. Chinese travellers want to see what others bought, what it costs, and whether it’s worth it – before they leave home.
And yet, the current retail model still expects them to:
- Discover products in-terminal
- Compare prices manually
- Navigate stores without platform-linked cues
That disconnect is costing conversions.
Retailers are not underperforming – they’re misunderstanding. This is not an execution issue; it’s an existential one. By clinging to footfall models, over-emphasising heritage over narrative, and treating digital as a channel instead of a core battleground, European duty-free has entered 2025 using a 2019 playbook.
The Paradox of Spontaneity
One of the most consistent behaviours seen across both CTD and ETC studies is the compression of lead time. Chinese travellers are booking later -74% confirm travel plans within a month, with 40% booking within two weeks. But spontaneity doesn’t mean unstructured.
Travel planning today is modular: flights and hotels are booked late, but activities such as dining, wellness, or cultural experiences are researched weeks in advance. The desire is for self-guided journeys with pre-curated options: think influencer-built Google Maps pins, scan-to-learn shopping guides, or same-day local tours discoverable on Xiaohongshu.
Social Discovery is the New Duty-Free Front Door
Chinese travellers no longer arrive at your store to browse. They arrive to validate.
They’ve seen the packaging, the bundles, the reviews—on Xiaohongshu or Douyin. If you’re not visible there, you might as well not exist.
Alipay and WeChat Pay handle 39% of in-trip transactions, according to our Q2 data.
Meanwhile, the ETC report notes that group tours are in decline, and self-guided experiences are rising. This further weakens reliance on in-airport exposure.
If travel retail doesn’t intercept the traveller earlier and digitally it won’t intercept them at all.
By 2030, the most profitable duty-free stores won’t be in airports — they’ll be embedded in Xiaohongshu feeds, livestream rooms, and AI-curated travel bundles.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a lag in adoption – it’s a refusal to change the question. Retail is still optimising shelves, while the consumer is optimising scrolls. If Xiaohongshu is where the journey begins, why does the airport still act like it’s where it ends?
????️ What This Means for European Travel Retail
European duty-free stores have resumed operations — but they’ve reopened for a traveller that no longer exists. This isn’t a call for more Mandarin signage or broader SKU assortments. This is a call to rethink conversion strategy entirely.
Here’s what retailers must embrace – now:
- Curate for Social Relevance
- Stop chasing footfall. Highlight products that have visibility on Xiaohongshu, not just historic duty-free success.
- Bundle items by traveller persona: “First-Time Explorer”, “Wellness Seeker”, “Luxury Minimalist”.
- Price Transparency = Trust
- 98% of Chinese shoppers compare duty-free prices to domestic retail. Don’t hide value – spotlight it.
- Integrate QR codes linking to platform-native reviews.
- Shift Influence Upstream
- Promote products weeks before travel via Xiaohongshu and Douyin creators.
- Offer incentives to pre-engage (wishlist downloads, platform coupons, itinerary integration).
4 .Offer Emotional ROI
- Chinese Gen Z and HNWIs don’t just spend – they justify.
- Wellness, exclusivity, sustainability, and ‘made-for-travel’ narratives win.
Don’t Wait at the Gate
The ETC Barometer proves that Chinese interest is real and rising, even as other markets stagnate. But interest alone isn’t enough.
As we noted in the CTD Q2 report: 行百里者半九十 — “To walk 100 miles, 90 is only halfway.” Momentum is not mastery. Europe has travelled far in reopening, but the true work of re-engaging its most influential tourist is just beginning. But without a total shift in where — and how — it meets the Chinese traveller, it risks irrelevance.
They won’t wait at the gate — and neither should you. If you’re not in their scroll, you’re not in their spend!
Note: All data references are from Europe Long-haul Travel Barometer from European Travel Commission (ETC) and China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey Q2 2025 from China Trading Desk (CTD) filtered based on Europe travel intention.
