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How many travlers are "shopping tourists" and travel to shop in the most attractive shopping strips in the world and what is their esimated generated revenue
Hello! Thanks for asking Wonder about the number of shopping tourists and the revenue they generate The most useful sources I found to respond to your query were reports by World Tourism Organization UNWTO and Mastercard.
In short, the top cities for tourist shopping are Seoul, London, and Osaka, though the Middle East is growing as a hub for luxury shopping tourism. Overseas tourists spent approximately $6.45 billion in the top European shopping destinations, while South Korea alone appears to generate $9.8 billion from shopping tourists. Below, please find the results of my research, along with my methodology.
METHODOLOGY
I searched extensively for precompiled data regarding global shopping tourism. While I found a few reports that offer context and some specific data, I found no definitive statistics on the number of shopping tourists, globally. Most of the data I found targeted specific geographic areas. So I did some searching for some of the top destinations mentioned in the reports I found, as well as some of the top shopping strips or destinations and any related statistics.
GLOBAL SHOPPING TOURISM
According to the 2016 Global Destination Cities Index, compiled by Mastercard, tourist shopping expenditure is highest in Seoul (58.7%), followed by London (46.7%) and Osaka (43.1%).
The "Expand Into Europe: Retail Destination Index 2016" report examines Europe's important retail cities. It finds that overseas visitors spend $6.45 billion on shopping in the top nine European retail cities.
Though a few years old, the 2014 Global Shopping Report by the World Tourism Organization UNWTO offer the most complete precompiled data I was able to find. The report notes that shopping is becoming an increasingly important deciding factor in travel destination choice. It also discusses the difficulty in differentiating between tourist and non-tourist spending. While the report does not put a total number on shopping tourists or global revenue, it does offer some statistics for the top shopping destinations, which I will share below, along with data from other sources.
• Bangkok
Bangkok takes the top spot for cross-border spending at $14.3 billion, followed by Singapore at $13.5 billion and Tokyo at $12.7 billion. The Mastercard study found that 2016 figures for Bangkok showed tourist spending of $14.8 billion with 21.7% allocated to shopping.
• US
In New York City, visitors spent 25 cents of every dollar on shopping, generating $8 billion in revenue for the city's shops.
In the US, dining and shopping are the most popular tourist activities with visitors spending 19% of their travel budget on retail. This percentage is higher for visitors from Singapore (73%), Mexico (60%), Japan (59%), Australia (47%), Germany (40%), and the UK (37%). Fully 90% of Asians, 86% of Western Europeans, and 85% of Eastern Europeans name shopping as a top activity while visiting the US, according to a report on fashion tourism.
The Mall of America, one of the top shopping malls worldwide, has 40 million visitors annually with one-third of them traveling a distance of more than 150 miles. Tourists spend $437 million at the mall every year.
• Spain
In Spain, "a total of US$1.1 billion was spent on shopping in the country by visitors from outside the EU with 48% and 31% of expenditure made in Barcelona and Madrid respectively."
• Brazil
Additionally, "shopping tourists in São Paolo spent more overall, spending R$ 2,201 compared to the average tourist spend of R$ 1,746, highlighting a higher spending value of 26% by the shopping segment."
• London
In London's trendy West End, 50% of the 200 million visitors there each year are tourists from overseas. The West End generates retail sales of £7.6 billion each year, so we can estimate that half of that, £3.8 billion in retail sales (approximately $4.88 billion US).
• Vienna
Vienna was dubbed one of the top shopping cities by Global Blue, with 82% of its 12.3 million overnight visitors rating shopping at a top activity. Some 19% of visitors named shopping as their primary motivator for visiting the city.
• South Korea
According to an article at KBS World Radio, shopping tourists, as a percentage of international visitors to South Korea, has increased "from 36% in 2011 to 47% in 2015." In 2015, there were an estimated 4.7 million shopping tourists in the country, spending $9.8 billion.
• Middle East
A number of reports notes that the Middle East is becoming the top destination for luxury shopping tourism. The United Arab Emirates has "more than 50 shopping mega malls, regular shopping festivals, and leading designer goods, available tax-free." Dubai saw 14.9 million tourists in 2016.
SHOPPING FESTIVALS
Several regions have begun hosting large shopping festivals each year to attract shopping tourists. In Malaysia, which hosted 25 million foreign visitors in 2012, the Mega Sale Carnival has been hosted since 1990. Over 30% of Malaysia's $20 billion in tourist dollars was spent on shopping, making it the second-largest share of tourist spending after accommodations. An article at Free Malaysia Today notes that in the first half of 2016, shopping tourism rose 17.1%, generating RM11.7 billion ($2.68 billion US) during those six months.
The Korean Tourism Organization has hosted the Korea Grand Sale in February and the Korea Sale FESTA in October, annually since 2011.
Dubai hosts two shopping festivals, the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Dubai Summer Surprises. The festivals have prompted an increase in hotel construction with hotel occupancy reaching 90% during the festivals.
SUMMARY
In summary, definitive global statistics on the number of shopping tourists and the revenue they generate proved elusive. However, approximately $6.45 billion is spent by overseas tourists on shopping in the top nine European retail cities, while South Korea sees about $9.8 billion in shopping tourist spending.
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