Latest news with #experiences
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I'm a female solo traveller who's been to 39 countries - here's the common mistake almost everyone makes
A solo traveller who has been to almost 40 countries across five continents has been sharing her opinions on travelling – warning that some may be 'unpopular'. Karina Henry, who runs the @karinaworldwide Instagram account and has over 131,000 followers on the site, shared 15 of her strongest views. She starts by addressing the mistake people make when they rush to visit as many countries as possible, writing: 'Travel isn't a race – no one cares about your passport stamp.' Instead of the number of nations visited, people should instead impress with their experiences. 'Let's swap 'whew, I'd definitely go back there' stories, not just border-crossing bingo.' Among the comments agreeing with her, a user wrote: 'I'm more impressed with someone who has visited only 5 countries but spent a longer time there than with someone who has visited 10 in 3 weeks.' She warns against 'using Africans as props in your travel photos', stating: 'Poverty is not an aesthetic.' 'If you wouldn't take that photo in Paris or Tokyo, ask yourself why it feels acceptable in Ghana or Kenya,' she added. 'Your trip shouldn't come at the cost of someone's dignity.' One of the most popular responses agreed with this point in particular. 'I HATE SEEING kids in villages in Southeast Asia in people's photo carousels. If you wouldn't take a picture of less fortunate American, don't do it in another country,' wrote @jadethetraveler. However, one person questions this opinion. 'You have pics posing with a local in very traditional, simple dress, while you are decked out to the nines. ??,' wrote Katie Mendonça. 'I don't get the difference? Loved a lot of what you shared…but this one seems hypocritical.' Another viewpoint that people disagreed with was around tipping, which Karina believes 'shouldn't be optional just because you're abroad'. 'The tipping culture is very different (give or not, how much, or actually bargain), I think it is best to study beforehand how they do and accommodate that instead of bringing your own tipping culture', said @cskmtrsztsz Another, who identified themselves as Australian, wrote: 'Tipping can actually be seen as extremely rude in many countries- particularly places like Japan - so it's always best to actually research the tipping culture.' Karina also shared her stance on how solo travel isn't a personality trait, why there's no shame in dating abroad, and how travel doesn't have to be transformational. Most of the responses were positive, though one Instagram user wrote: 'I get where she's coming from, but many of these come from an odd, rather judgey place.' The travel content creator, who has over 300,000 followers on TikTok, previously opened up about her most terrifying experiences abroad, ranging from a tourist scam to a parasitic infection she got from eating cat meat. 'In China, I was physically assaulted by a drunk man who said he didn't like me simply because I was American,' she shared. The footage showed a man yelling at her in Chinese while she begged him to leave her alone, saying, 'I didn't do anything. I just want to go home.' Karina then shared that she 'got an incurable parasitic infection after eating cat meat in Ghana,' but she didn't go into detail about her health scare. 'In Egypt, I was lured into a shop by a "tour guide" and then trapped inside until I agreed to pay for a belly dancer outfit I "broke" — only to later realize it was a scam,' she continued. Another solo travel content creator recently shared her honest views on where she feels unsafe as a woman – and one of her picks is a hugely popular European destination. Savanna Crowell, in a video that has been viewed almost 500,000 times, the New York-based traveller revealed three places where she didn't feel safe. She told her 54,000 followers that she'd 'had a few uncomfortable situations' in one of the countries
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A luxury experience in China: Global high-end brands bet on conceptual stores to revive sales
By Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Louis Vuitton's latest Shanghai store is not your average luxury flagship. The 30-meter-high, ship-shaped store, "The Louis", is billed as an experience, and houses an exhibition space and cafe in Shanghai's downtown Nanjing Road shopping strip. "The Louis", which had a grand opening on Thursday, will undoubtedly draw crowds eager to post pictures to social media of its gleaming facade and the photo-ready exhibits inside. But LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton will also be hoping it can stimulate sales among Chinese consumers whose spending on luxury goods has slowed. LVMH's business strategy aligns with a broader shift among luxury goods retailers from a transactional model - where a shop merely sells goods to customers - to enticing customers with "experiences" that ultimately spur growth. The stakes are high for the luxury brands, which for years have relied on brisk sales in China to fuel their global growth, and ambitions, but are now facing a slowdown in demand in the world's second-biggest economy. The size of the Chinese market declined more than 18% last year to around 350 billion yuan ($48.80 billion) and sales are on track for a flat performance in 2025, according to estimates from consultancy Bain. Zino Helmlinger, head of China retail at real estate service provider CRBE, acknowledges that the luxury segment as a whole in China has taken "a hit" recently, though he believes the slowdown was expected. 'If you look at the megastars - I mean LVMH, Kering, Richemont, Hermès - they almost tripled their profit within five years," he said. "At some point, there is some counterbalancing, there is only so much you can grow, only so much you can generate." In the first quarter, LVMH's revenue in the region that includes China fell 11% on an organic basis - the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan accounts for 30% of the group's total sales. Chinese consumers, hard hit by broader economic uncertainty and a prolonged property market downturn, have tightened spending on discretionary purchases - luxury branded handbags among them. Shanghai native Natalie Chen, 31, says she already owns enough "stuff" and has redirected a significant portion of the funds she once used for luxury goods to travel. "Truthfully speaking, I don't feel that buying another bag will improve my life," she said, though she has already visited a new restaurant opened by Prada in Shanghai and intends to check out Louis Vuitton's new cafe concept with girlfriends. "It brings a different kind of feeling than just [shopping] in a mall," Chen said, though she was unsure the ship-shaped store would lead her to make any purchases outside of coffee and cake. Still, the luxury brands are sensing a longer term opportunity to pump-prime sales. While appetite for personal luxury goods in China and around the world is declining, hurt by economic pressures and price fatigue, sales rates of "experiential goods" are rising, according to Bain, which highlighted a surge in personalized luxury hospitality experiences and rising fine dining sales in its spring luxury report. In 2024, for example, the overall personal luxury goods market worldwide fell 1% to 3% even as experiential luxury spending rose 5%, Bain said. LUXURY EVOLUTION New research released by real estate advisor Savills earlier this month points to this as a significant new trend in what it describes as China's "evolving" luxury market, in which people seeking out experiences are lured with more experiential luxury brand touchpoints, from restaurants to Salon Privé - private, appointment-only lounges for VIP shoppers. "All the brands are closing stores, but those that can afford to are also opening big flagships or holding some big events or exhibitions to keep their visibility extremely high," said Patrice Nordey, CEO of Shanghai-based innovation consultancy Trajectry, essentially preparing for future success when the market picks up again. Brands from Balenciaga to Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada have all closed stores in China since the second-half of last year. Gucci is on track to close 10 stores in the market this year, Helmlinger said. Louis Vuitton's stablemate Dior opened a cafe concept in Chengdu earlier this year, and in March Prada opened a Wong Kar Wai-designed restaurant at its Rong Zhai cultural space in Shanghai. Jeweller Tiffany and Co. recently downsized a large downtown Shanghai store, but in March it also opened a new three-storey flagship in Chengdu. Nordey says that while more people refer to this trend as "experiential" retail, it actually speaks to something much deeper. "I think it's a way of looking at your customer, either as someone that will buy products, or as an individual who is trying to have a more fulfilling life," he said. "If your purpose is not only to feed your client with consumer products, but more than that, you might actually resonate more strongly with them." While high-profile luxury store closures in mainland China have prompted speculation of brands lessening investment in a slowing market, CRBE's Helmlinger says the real story is more nuanced, indicating a strategic realignment of resources, rather than a pullback in the market. "You need to create this concept of rarity, and rarity comes with scarcity," he said. "When you have 80 or 90 stores in one market, it doesn't seem so rare anymore, it seems like it's mainstream." ($1 = 7.1714 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
A luxury experience in China: Global high-end brands bet on conceptual stores to revive sales
SHANGHAI, June 27 (Reuters) - Louis Vuitton's latest Shanghai store is not your average luxury flagship. The 30-meter-high, ship-shaped store, "The Louis", is billed as an experience, and houses an exhibition space and cafe in Shanghai's downtown Nanjing Road shopping strip. "The Louis", which had a grand opening on Thursday, will undoubtedly draw crowds eager to post pictures to social media of its gleaming facade and the photo-ready exhibits inside. But LVMH-owned ( opens new tab Louis Vuitton will also be hoping it can stimulate sales among Chinese consumers whose spending on luxury goods has slowed. LVMH's business strategy aligns with a broader shift among luxury goods retailers from a transactional model - where a shop merely sells goods to customers - to enticing customers with "experiences" that ultimately spur growth. The stakes are high for the luxury brands, which for years have relied on brisk sales in China to fuel their global growth, and ambitions, but are now facing a slowdown in demand in the world's second-biggest economy. The size of the Chinese market declined more than 18% last year to around 350 billion yuan ($48.80 billion) and sales are on track for a flat performance in 2025, according to estimates from consultancy Bain. Zino Helmlinger, head of China retail at real estate service provider CRBE, acknowledges that the luxury segment as a whole in China has taken "a hit" recently, though he believes the slowdown was expected. 'If you look at the megastars - I mean LVMH, Kering ( opens new tab, Richemont (CFR.S), opens new tab, Hermès ( opens new tab - they almost tripled their profit within five years," he said. "At some point, there is some counterbalancing, there is only so much you can grow, only so much you can generate." In the first quarter, LVMH's revenue in the region that includes China fell 11% on an organic basis - the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan accounts for 30% of the group's total sales. Chinese consumers, hard hit by broader economic uncertainty and a prolonged property market downturn, have tightened spending on discretionary purchases - luxury branded handbags among them. Shanghai native Natalie Chen, 31, says she already owns enough "stuff" and has redirected a significant portion of the funds she once used for luxury goods to travel. "Truthfully speaking, I don't feel that buying another bag will improve my life," she said, though she has already visited a new restaurant opened by Prada in Shanghai and intends to check out Louis Vuitton's new cafe concept with girlfriends. "It brings a different kind of feeling than just [shopping] in a mall," Chen said, though she was unsure the ship-shaped store would lead her to make any purchases outside of coffee and cake. Still, the luxury brands are sensing a longer term opportunity to pump-prime sales. While appetite for personal luxury goods in China and around the world is declining, hurt by economic pressures and price fatigue, sales rates of "experiential goods" are rising, according to Bain, which highlighted a surge in personalized luxury hospitality experiences and rising fine dining sales in its spring luxury report. In 2024, for example, the overall personal luxury goods market worldwide fell 1% to 3% even as experiential luxury spending rose 5%, Bain said. New research released by real estate advisor Savills earlier this month points to this as a significant new trend in what it describes as China's "evolving" luxury market, in which people seeking out experiences are lured with more experiential luxury brand touchpoints, from restaurants to Salon Privé - private, appointment-only lounges for VIP shoppers. "All the brands are closing stores, but those that can afford to are also opening big flagships or holding some big events or exhibitions to keep their visibility extremely high," said Patrice Nordey, CEO of Shanghai-based innovation consultancy Trajectry, essentially preparing for future success when the market picks up again. Brands from Balenciaga to Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada have all closed stores in China since the second-half of last year. Gucci is on track to close 10 stores in the market this year, Helmlinger said. Louis Vuitton's stablemate Dior opened a cafe concept in Chengdu earlier this year, and in March Prada (1913.F), opens new tab opened a Wong Kar Wai-designed restaurant at its Rong Zhai cultural space in Shanghai. Jeweller Tiffany and Co. recently downsized a large downtown Shanghai store, but in March it also opened a new three-storey flagship in Chengdu. Nordey says that while more people refer to this trend as "experiential" retail, it actually speaks to something much deeper. "I think it's a way of looking at your customer, either as someone that will buy products, or as an individual who is trying to have a more fulfilling life," he said. "If your purpose is not only to feed your client with consumer products, but more than that, you might actually resonate more strongly with them." While high-profile luxury store closures in mainland China have prompted speculation of brands lessening investment in a slowing market, CRBE's Helmlinger says the real story is more nuanced, indicating a strategic realignment of resources, rather than a pullback in the market. "You need to create this concept of rarity, and rarity comes with scarcity," he said. "When you have 80 or 90 stores in one market, it doesn't seem so rare anymore, it seems like it's mainstream." ($1 = 7.1714 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A luxury experience in China: Global high-end brands bet on conceptual stores to revive sales
By Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Louis Vuitton's latest Shanghai store is not your average luxury flagship. The 30-meter-high, ship-shaped store, "The Louis", is billed as an experience, and houses an exhibition space and cafe in Shanghai's downtown Nanjing Road shopping strip. "The Louis", which had a grand opening on Thursday, will undoubtedly draw crowds eager to post pictures to social media of its gleaming facade and the photo-ready exhibits inside. But LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton will also be hoping it can stimulate sales among Chinese consumers whose spending on luxury goods has slowed. LVMH's business strategy aligns with a broader shift among luxury goods retailers from a transactional model - where a shop merely sells goods to customers - to enticing customers with "experiences" that ultimately spur growth. The stakes are high for the luxury brands, which for years have relied on brisk sales in China to fuel their global growth, and ambitions, but are now facing a slowdown in demand in the world's second-biggest economy. The size of the Chinese market declined more than 18% last year to around 350 billion yuan ($48.80 billion) and sales are on track for a flat performance in 2025, according to estimates from consultancy Bain. Zino Helmlinger, head of China retail at real estate service provider CRBE, acknowledges that the luxury segment as a whole in China has taken "a hit" recently, though he believes the slowdown was expected. 'If you look at the megastars - I mean LVMH, Kering, Richemont, Hermès - they almost tripled their profit within five years," he said. "At some point, there is some counterbalancing, there is only so much you can grow, only so much you can generate." In the first quarter, LVMH's revenue in the region that includes China fell 11% on an organic basis - the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan accounts for 30% of the group's total sales. Chinese consumers, hard hit by broader economic uncertainty and a prolonged property market downturn, have tightened spending on discretionary purchases - luxury branded handbags among them. Shanghai native Natalie Chen, 31, says she already owns enough "stuff" and has redirected a significant portion of the funds she once used for luxury goods to travel. "Truthfully speaking, I don't feel that buying another bag will improve my life," she said, though she has already visited a new restaurant opened by Prada in Shanghai and intends to check out Louis Vuitton's new cafe concept with girlfriends. "It brings a different kind of feeling than just [shopping] in a mall," Chen said, though she was unsure the ship-shaped store would lead her to make any purchases outside of coffee and cake. Still, the luxury brands are sensing a longer term opportunity to pump-prime sales. While appetite for personal luxury goods in China and around the world is declining, hurt by economic pressures and price fatigue, sales rates of "experiential goods" are rising, according to Bain, which highlighted a surge in personalized luxury hospitality experiences and rising fine dining sales in its spring luxury report. In 2024, for example, the overall personal luxury goods market worldwide fell 1% to 3% even as experiential luxury spending rose 5%, Bain said. LUXURY EVOLUTION New research released by real estate advisor Savills earlier this month points to this as a significant new trend in what it describes as China's "evolving" luxury market, in which people seeking out experiences are lured with more experiential luxury brand touchpoints, from restaurants to Salon Privé - private, appointment-only lounges for VIP shoppers. "All the brands are closing stores, but those that can afford to are also opening big flagships or holding some big events or exhibitions to keep their visibility extremely high," said Patrice Nordey, CEO of Shanghai-based innovation consultancy Trajectry, essentially preparing for future success when the market picks up again. Brands from Balenciaga to Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada have all closed stores in China since the second-half of last year. Gucci is on track to close 10 stores in the market this year, Helmlinger said. Louis Vuitton's stablemate Dior opened a cafe concept in Chengdu earlier this year, and in March Prada opened a Wong Kar Wai-designed restaurant at its Rong Zhai cultural space in Shanghai. Jeweller Tiffany and Co. recently downsized a large downtown Shanghai store, but in March it also opened a new three-storey flagship in Chengdu. Nordey says that while more people refer to this trend as "experiential" retail, it actually speaks to something much deeper. "I think it's a way of looking at your customer, either as someone that will buy products, or as an individual who is trying to have a more fulfilling life," he said. "If your purpose is not only to feed your client with consumer products, but more than that, you might actually resonate more strongly with them." While high-profile luxury store closures in mainland China have prompted speculation of brands lessening investment in a slowing market, CRBE's Helmlinger says the real story is more nuanced, indicating a strategic realignment of resources, rather than a pullback in the market. "You need to create this concept of rarity, and rarity comes with scarcity," he said. "When you have 80 or 90 stores in one market, it doesn't seem so rare anymore, it seems like it's mainstream." ($1 = 7.1714 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Evacuees from Israel arrive in Cyprus and describe their experiences during Iran conflict
Young people gathered at the Limassol port in Cyprus and shared their experiences after being evacuated from Israel. (AP video by Lefteris Pitarakis)
