A luxury French fashion retailer has sparked huge controversy by claiming its new boutique hotel will not be open to Chinese tourists.
Fashion house Zadig & Voltaire is due to open the hotel in Paris in 2014.u00a0But according to the company’s founder, Thierry Gillier, the 40-room hotel will not be open to tourists visiting the French capital from China.
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He said, “We are going to select guests. It won’t be open to Chinese tourists, for example. There is a lot of demand in Paris — many people are looking for quiet with a certain privacy.”
The comments sparked outrage across social media sites in China. Last year, France was the most popular travel target for the Chinese, with more than 9,00,000 tourists visiting the country. It is expected that by 2020 this will increase to an astonishing 4 million.
As the nation’s capital, Paris is the number one destination for the tourists, who are estimated to have spent $72 billion on luxury goods last year.
Many in the fashion industry claim the relationship between luxury fashion houses and new rich shoppers may not be one of respect.
Some have claimed that designer brands look down on Chinese luxury consumers because they are seen to ‘tastelessly’ buy any luxury product on offer.
9,00,000 The number of Chinese tourists that visited France in 2011
4 million The number of Chinese tourists that are to visit France in 2020
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