UK hotels missing out on Chinese shoppers

Chinese visitors to London are yet to show the same appetite for the UK capital’s luxury hotels as for more international brands.

Nathalie Seiler-Hayez, general manager of The Connaught hotel in Mayfair, remarked: “They all go and spend their money at Hermes or Chanel, but they haven’t really reached the high end hotels. They go to the Marriott or places like that because they don’t know the brands here yet.”

Suggesting that it would take “Probably five years or more” for this situation to change, she confirmed that The Connaught was keen to step up its marketing efforts in China, adding: “wine could be a fabulous communication for that.”

In addition to a selection of rare and specially disgorged Champagnes available in its Coburg Bar, as well as boasting two Michelin-starred restaurant Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, the hotel recently added a “sommelier’s table” in its wine cellar.

Offering a twist on the chef’s table experience offered by many other restaurants, food & beverage manager Lionel Lachez explained: “You choose your wines and Hélène Darroze will design a menu around them”. The service includes a bespoke consultation with The Connaught’s sommelier, Hugues Lepin.

Following its £70m refurbishment in 2007, Seiler-Hayez confirmed that the hotel had seen occupancy rates jump from 50% to 86%.

While China is proving slow to embrace the UK’s luxury hotels, around half The Connaught’s guests come from the UK, 40% from the US, with the rest made up largely by the Middle East and, more recently, Brazil.

“Brazil brings a fabulous new clientele,” commented Seiler-Hayez. “They know how to live and how to have fun.”

One feature that is proving a big hit with both domestic and foreign guests is the hotel’s afternoon tea. Reporting that bookings were “up by 50% on last year,” Lachez explained: “It’s something quintessentially British: if you come to London, you have to have afternoon tea.”

According to provisional estimates by UK tourism agency VisitBritain, Chinese visits to the UK increased by 33% over the 12 months to January 2012 compared to the previous 12 month period. The only country to see a larger increase during this time was Brazil at 44%, while Russian visitors also saw strong growth of 25%.

The organisation has predicted a 113% uplift in Chinese visitors (excluding Hong Kong) between 2011 and 2020, when it expects the UK to welcome 300,000 Chinese guests.

Many of these visitors take advantage of the lower taxes, reliable provenance and social cachet associated with buying luxury brands in the UK rather than China. Last year UK luxury department store Selfridges reported that Chinese tourists had driven its 80% increase in VAT-free international sales.