Chinese customer volume

China has overtaken the US to become the world's second largest luxury consumption market, and is expect to replace Japan as the top consumer group this year.

Ouyang Kun, China Chief Representative at the World Luxury Association, said that "if you take into account the luxury goods that Chinese tourists buy overseas, total spending would be even larger. Chinese people have spent 25 percent more on luxury goods every year so far," according to the People's Daily.

Since March's disaster in Japan forced 49 percent of brand stores to halt business, 70 percent of brands will shift their commercial plans to China.

"Chinese tourists at our department store last year made up about 10 percent. For our malls (like Central World) it should be a bit higher, and the peak time for Chinese customers shopping in Thailand is during Chinese New Year and the National Day golden week," Chirathivat said.

Chinese tourists tend to travel abroad to shop while on holiday, always hunting for the best price for luxury goods.

However, many consumers from the Chinese mainland choose Hong Kong because of its location and the range and pricing of luxury goods, as luxury shopping destination, because of the location and price.

The rapid increase of Chinese customers buying luxury goods has greatly stimulated the need for these destinations to broaden their market.

"There will also be Chinese-speaking staff in the mall to assist the customers. And of course there will be shopping mall guides (maps) in Chinese," Chirathivat told the Global Times.

Wang, a PR manager in the Beijing office of Thailand's Tourism Authority, told the Global Times that 1.52 million Chinese citizens travel to Thailand last year, up from 1.12 million in 2010. However, he admitted the floods dented the number of arrivals.

Natural disaster and political impacts

In the three months leading up to December last year, Thailand's worst flood crisis in almost 50 years resulted in 1.4 trillion baht ($45.8 billion) worth of damage and a 630 billion baht ($20.8 billion) hit to the industrial sector.

According to the National Economic and Social Development Board, Thailand recorded GDP growth of 0.1 percent last year as floods disrupted business and manufacturing.

This came at a time of recovery for the national economy after political chaos.

In May 2010, the Central World department store was one of the many properties set on fire when the "red-shirt" anti-government demonstrators were forcibly removed after months of protests.

After the "red-shirt" opposition protests triggered an army crackdown, which killed more than 90 people in Bangkok, the first election battle gave the opposition Puea Thai Party's Yingluck Shinawatra a landslide victory.

"The country went through a political crisis for five years, the economy was affected badly, and people just want to get back to normal," said Chirathivat.

This year, tourists are beginning to return. However, a series of blasts that rocked Bangkok last week, injuring five people, have raised concerns for the country's tourism.

"My friend and I were thinking about rescheduling our plan after the blasts," Wang Yijia, a 28-year-old white-collar working in a Beijing-based logistic company, told the Global Times. " I could not change my schedule but I did not tell my parents that I still came to Thailand, because I don't want them to worry about me."

According to the Xinhua News Agency, a total of 14 countries and regions have issued travel warnings for Thailand since the incidents.

The three series of blasts did not impact significantly on tourism, since there no Chinese tourist group has cancelled so far, Yao Yao, spokesman at Kanghui Travel Agency, told the Global Times.

During the worst of the floods, all tour groups from China to Thailand were cancelled after a warning by the Thailand's Tourism Authority, Yao said.

China not Zen so far

"Bangkok attracts strong demand from luxury travelers, mainly from China and Japan," Larry Tchou, managing director for Asia Pacific, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, told a conference to celebrate the partnership between Park Hyatt and Central Embassy.

He also said that about 40 percent of guests will be high-market travelers from Asia (of whom 10-15 percent will be from China), while another 40 percent will be from the US and Western Europe.

With a large number of Chinese customers, Central Retail has chosen China as its first international expansion destination, as it launched 2 Central department stores and 1 Zen in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Shenyang, Liaoning province.

However, the Zen Department in Shenyang has not replicated the success seen in Bangkok

A salesperson working in Zen Department in Shenyang, told the Global Times that customer volume is lower than in other local malls, for two reasons.

Firstly, it is located in Shenyang's Joy City which is a major shopping district in the city. Its prime location means the company scrimped on advertising, countering on its real estate to bring people in, she said.

Secondly, shoppers in Shenyang are not familiar with many of the pricey brands in the department, she concluded.