To surmount the unprecedented crisis that hit travel retail with the Covid-19 pandemic, Parfums Christian Dior chose the Hainan island, off southern China, to unveil its World of Pure Beauty pop-up last October and to launch their latest beauty innovation, Dior Capture Totale Super Potent Serum.
With its sea resorts, the island has been center stage in the luxury and travel retail world for the past several months. Once the Covid-10 crisis had been brought under control in China, many people had travel on their minds, but most overseas luxury destinations were closed. Hainan Island then emerged as one of the few possible destinations.
“This island brought an immediate ray of hope for the travel industry, drawing nearly 60 million Chinese tourists to an island that is 100 percent duty free,” explains Olivier Dubos, Senior Vice President Travel Retail at Parfums Christian Dior.
In conjunction with the Golden Week holidays, from October 1-7, when a large part of the Chinese population is on vacation, Dior partnered with China Duty Free Group (CDFG) to create a pop-up store at the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex and launch their Dior Capture Totale skincare range, he added.
According to Dior, over 4.5 million consumers visited the famous Haitang Bay shopping complex to discover the event, inaugurated by Chinese actress and Parfums Christian Dior skincare ambassador Jing Tan. The opening ceremony was livestreamed to an audience of 4.5 million plus followers.
After a personalized skin diagnosis and facial massage with Capture Total products, customers are invited to a Dior Beauty Masterclass with one-on-one skincare consultations.
“The Chinese market is fast expanding, and skincare has accounted for 80% of travel retail sales in this market since the beginning of the year,” Olivier Dubos notes. “In these turbulent times, these products anticipate and respond to the desire of our customers to pamper themselves, to indulge in private, personal and intimate luxury. We believe it’s very likely that Hainan will become a major free trade zone for all LVMH Maisons in the years to come.”
