Global Retail Tourism Trends and Insights: Full Report

This report sheds light on the immense untapped potential of retail tourism for both destinations and businesses.  These are just some examples of what is included:  
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• Our unique research into the economic impact of retail tourism at a global and regional level as well as within specific economies.
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• Results of our survey of nearly 4,600 shopping travellers from 24 global source markets:

- Travellers’ retail experiences, habits and preferences – mostly regarding spending patterns and choice of shopping location – on their most recent foreign trip, and their intentions for a future trip.  

- Market segmentation and analysis of the demographic and other factors that influence travellers’ behaviour.

- The most commonly chosen source-to-destination routes for likely upcoming trips.

• Emerging trends in retail, such as sustainability, technology and ‘retailtainment’, based on 13 in-depth interviews with industry leaders.
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• Key challenges and opportunities for retail tourism stakeholders identified, including examples in specific destinations, and recommendations for businesses, DMOs and governments - providing guidance on how to navigate current trends successfully.
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• The political, economic, social and technological factors that are currently shaping retail tourism globally.
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• Deep-dive case studies for the United Kingdom (UK) and Hong Kong SAR.

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This report is based on joint research between WTTC and the Hospitality & Tourism Research Centre of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in collaboration with The Bicester Collection.
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Downloading this report also provides access to a 16-page Executive Summary paper and the supporting paper: Methodological Notes.