奢侈品公司佈局新加坡

Hermès is relaunching its flagship Singapore store in a bet on growth in Southeast Asia at a time when its rival regional centre Hong Kong is beset by anti-mainland Chinese sentiment that has eroded its status as a luxury shopping hub.

愛馬仕(Hermès)在新加坡的旗艦店即將重新開業，此舉押注於東南亞的增長。目前，另一個與新加坡競爭的區域中心——香港——正受困於反中國內地情緒，這種情緒侵蝕了其奢侈品購買中心的地位。

The relaunch this week follows Moves by other luxury retailers signalling confidence in the growth of tourism in Singapore; Patek Philippe refurbished its Singapore store last month, reopening as the brand’s biggest outlet in Southeast Asia, while Moncler opened its first boutique in the city last year.

在此之前，其他奢侈品零售商也有種種舉動，標誌着它們對新加坡旅遊業增長的信心。百達翡麗(Patek Philippe)上月翻修了其新加坡專賣店，該店重新開業後成爲該品牌在東南亞最大的專賣店。盟可睞(Moncler)去年在新加坡開設了其第一家精品店。

The Hermès store on Orchard Road, the city-state’s prime shopping district, has been expanded to 670 square metres over four storeys — putting it on par with the family-owned group’s store on London’s Bond Street — in a revamp that Axel Dumas, chief executive, said was an “expression of our commitment to Singapore, the region, and our faithful clientele”.

家族企業愛馬仕位於新加坡主要購物地烏節路(Orchard Road)上的這家專賣店擴充了店面，面積擴大至670平米，共4層。擴充後的該門店與倫敦邦德街(Bond Street)上的愛馬仕專賣店規模相當。愛馬仕首席執行官阿克塞勒•迪馬(Axel Dumas)稱，此次店面翻新“表達了我們對新加坡、該地區以及我們忠實顧客的承諾”。

Mr Dumas, who is attending the relaunch of the store this week, described Singapore in a statement as “one of the world’s greatest trading centres, perfectly placed between east and west”.

迪馬將參加本週的重開業典禮，他在聲明中形容新加坡是“世界最大的貿易中心之一，完美屹立於東西方之間”。

Hong Kong has suffered a slump in mainland Chinese tourists accompanied by a decline in their retail spending, which fell 8 per cent last year.

香港遭遇了中國內地遊客數量和零售支出的雙重下滑。去年香港入境遊客零售支出下滑了8%。

The decline has affected businesses including Richemont, Burberry and luxury jeweller Chow Tai Fook, which said this year it expected to close up to six stores in Hong Kong.

這種下滑趨勢影響了包括歷峯(Richemont)、博柏利(Burberry)和豪華珠寶商周大福(Chow Tai Fook)在內的企業。周大福稱，預計今年將在香港關閉最多6家店。

In a trading update last month, Hermès blamed a “difficult context” in Hong Kong and Macau for modest sales growth in Asia outside Japan.

在上個月的經營狀況更新中，愛馬仕把除日本外亞洲地區銷售額增長緩慢歸咎於香港和澳門“艱難的環境”。

The fall in Chinese tourism to Hong Kong has been blamed on anti-mainlander xenophobia, but also on an easing of visa restrictions that has boosted Chinese tourism to more far-flung destinations.

人們一直將內地赴港遊客減少歸咎於香港反內地人的排外情緒，但還有一個原因是，簽證限制放鬆推動了中國遊客前往更遙遠的目的地。

Chinese tourism arrivals in Singapore rose by 34 per cent in the first two months of this year, compared with the same period last year. Chinese tourists frequently stop off in the city-state as part of a regional tour which includes visits to Malaysia or Thailand.

今年頭兩個月，赴新加坡中國遊客數量與去年同期相比增長了34%。中國遊客往往把新加坡、馬來西亞或泰國安排在同一趟行程內遊玩。

Singapore’s tourism board is engaged in an online marketing blitz in China while strengthening regional currencies, make shopping trips from Malaysia and Indonesia more attractive, analysts say.

分析人士稱，新加坡旅遊局正在中國展開網上營銷攻勢，同時馬來西亞和印尼的貨幣走強也加強了赴新購物遊對這兩國遊客的吸引力。

Desmond Sim, head of research for Southeast Asia at CBRE, the property services business, said: “Chinese tourism is where most of the luxury spending is coming from, and Singapore is not like Hong Kong, where anti-Chinese sentiment has been made public. High-rollers are coming in for the casinos, and there’s a lot of tourism from the region.”

房地產服務公司世邦魏理仕(CBRE)東南亞研究主管德斯蒙德•西姆(Desmond Sim)稱：“中國遊客是奢侈品支出最多的羣體，新加坡不像香港，後者的反華情緒已經公開化。豪賭客爲了賭場來到這裏，還有很多亞洲遊客來到這裏。”

Gerald Wong, analyst at Credit Suisse, said in a recent note to clients that 2016 could be a record year for tourism to Singapore. Mr Wong wrote: “Our analysis of government initiatives and key markets leads us to believe that tourist arrivals could reach above 16m in 2016.”

瑞信(Credit Suisse)的分析師Gerald Wong在最近發給客戶的一份簡報中稱，2016年可能會是新加坡旅遊業創下紀錄的一年。Gerald Wong寫道：“我們對政府計劃和多個關鍵市場所做的分析令我們相信，2016年抵達新加坡的遊客人數可能會超過1600萬人。”