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Burberry shoppers snap up goods in Paris and Milan, not London
Tourists hoping to snap up Burberry products are heading to Paris and Milan rather than London, while luxury shoppers face price significant increases as costs rise, according to the British fashion brand.
Burberry, which plans a return to the “Britishness” of the 167-year-old company in a refocus under new chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd, said that American tourists in Europe fuelled a double-digit increase in store sales in the three months to the end of September.
While the UK performed strongly within Burberry’s European operations, its finance and operating chief Julie Brown said that the UK government’s decision to stop allowing tourists to reclaim VAT on shopping purchases has hurt Britain’s status as a holiday shopping destination.
“There has been an increase in tourists, particularly American, but not at the same degree as we used to see,” she said.
“More tourists are going to Paris, Milan and continental Europe. Tax free shopping was a real incentive for the luxury shopper to come to the UK.
“The UK is performing well, but we are now finding tourists are tending to go more to continental Europe, and that also has knock-on implications for other industries including hospitality and hotels.
