About Town
People, Places, Preoccupations
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 25 AUGUST 14, 2019
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O’Gara Coach Co., says that
he’s noticed “a little dip in our
Chinese and Arabic clients this
year,” adding, “I presume it has
something to do with the travel
visa issues.” Lauren Santillana of
the Beverly Hills Conference &
Visitors Bureau says flatly, “Our
China business is down,” also
noting a July decrease in Gulf visi-
tors, based on conversations with
luxury hotel representatives.
“Literally half of our Gulf
region clients skipped coming
to America this year to go to the
Mediterranean,” says luxury
personal shopper Nicole Pollard
Bayme. “And it’s not because they
can’t get into the United States;
they can’t get visas for their staff
because of what Trump’s doing.
Hotels are dead. Just walkingBeverly Hills
Battles a Trump
Shopping Slump
P
eak summer travel
season has arrived in
Beverly Hills, usually a
prime time for tour-
ists from China and the Gulf. But
hospitality and shopping desti-
nations are seeing notably fewer
Ferraris with Arabic plates cruise
Rodeo Drive as many well-heeled
travelers bypass Los Angeles.
At the same time, Chinese
travelers to the U.S. dropped
for the first time in 15 years,
by 5.7 percent in 2018, accord-
ing to the International Trade
Administration.
Blame it on the strong U.S.
economy offering less interna-
tional bang for the buck; trade
war-induced propaganda, with
China issuing U.S. travel alerts
warning of shootings and robber-
ies; and Trump administration
visa restrictions. It all adds up to
a notable decline in the flow of
jet-setters who keep Beverly Hills’
chic boutiques humming. (L.A.’s
Tourism & Convention Board
reports that Chinese travelers to
L.A. ranked No. 1 with a collective
spend of $3.3 billion in 2018 and
an average trip expenditure of
$2,769 per person.)
Rys Edwards, executive direc-
tor of marketing for the luxury
Beverly Hills car dealershipThe president’s trade war with China and restrictive
visa policies on Gulf nations take a toll — maybe 30,
maybe 40 percent — on the tony retail zone By Ingrid Schmidtdown the street, the demographic
is different. There’ve been years
when you might have thought you
were in the Gulf, walking down
Rodeo, and those days are gone.”
A sales associate at the Coach
store on Rodeo Drive estimates
that purchases by Chinese clients
are down “maybe 40 percent” this
summer compared with last year,
while a counterpart at Salvatore
Ferragamo pegged the decrease
in both Chinese and Saudi busi-
ness at “maybe 30 percent.” At
luxe Italian menswear brand
Ermenegildo Zegna, an employee
noted a “significant” decrease inChinese and Middle
Eastern custom-
ers. And the Beverly
Center has shifted its
focus from welcom-
ing packed busloads
of Chinese tourists
to presentations for
smaller VIP groups of
shoppers.
Not every stat is a
down arrow, however.
Jamie Foley of the Los Angeles
Tourism & Convention Board
reports that LAX seat capacity
from China has actually grown
by 5.9 percent from 2018 to 2019,
amounting to more than 100 non-
stop weekly flights and 30,000
weekly seats. L.A. Tourism “is
the first (and only) U.S. munici-
pal marketing organization to1241 Prime retail locations are for lease on Rodeo
Drive. 2 Formerly label-seeking tourists are
taking interest in local boutique options, say
shopping pros. 3 Louis Vuitton’s 10-room
experiential pop-up. 4 Laura Harrier and Jaden
Smith attended the Vuitton opening June 27.3KatzPollard
Bayme