Riding high

A supercar tour down the Italian Riviera is just one of the many luxury travel packages catering to China's expanding wealthy travelers. Alexis Hooi finds out how it's being done.

Last summer, tour specialist Zou Wenwen helped organize a driving trip for a group of 10 Chinese travelers in Italy. But it was no ordinary tour - her clients paid 200,000 yuan ($30,300) each for a weeklong luxury package that centered on driving Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati supercars along the Italian Riviera. "These were ultra high-end customers," Zou says. "They were mostly from the real estate and investment sectors. We also had people from the restaurant business as well as a sculptor."

The group was first flown by helicopter from Nice in France to Monte Carlo, the famous playground of the rich and famous, for an "orientation" on handling the supercars. They traveled in a convoy of five cars - a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and F430 Spider, Lamborghini Gallardo and Murciegalo, and a Maserati GranTurismo - headed by a local motoring expert. The Chinese drivers would take turns trying out the cars during the package.

Driving speeds were generally limited to below 120 km/h, but there were opportunities and stretches for the drivers to let the cars rip and flaunt the full capabilities of the vehicles.

"We already had agreements with the clients over driving speed and safety as well as compensation for any vehicles damages incurred," Zou says. "But of course, we had to remind them of such considerations very carefully these were rich people and we did not want to seem too nitpicky."

Over the five days of driving along a 500-kilometer route to Rome, the party stayed in luxury chateaus, dined in Michelin-starred restaurants and toured vineyards. Highlights also included medieval-themed performances and a hot-air balloon trip to catch the rising sun in Tuscany's countryside before breakfasting in a picnic in the hills.

The driving package, offered jointly by luxury tour operators Trip TM and Dream Italy, was so successful another one is being organized this year. But the group will be kept small to keep the trip exclusive, Zou says.

The package itself is part of new luxury travel options for Chinese tourists that include custom-made trips to exotic locations like Bhutan and the Arctic as well as more epicurean experiences in top-end European and Asian destinations.

It is a market fueled by the increasing number of super rich in the country.

According to the 2010 Hurun Wealth Report, a major survey of China's rich, there are 875,000 multimillionaires and 55,000 billionaires in the country, about 6.1 percent more millionaires and 7.8 percent more billionaires than the previous year.

The average age of those surveyed who were worth at least 100 million yuan was 39 years old and those with at least 1 billion yuan was 43 years, both a year younger than the figures of the previous year. The main sources of wealth for these people were real estate and manufacturing, Hurun reported.

Beijing-based Trip TM alone sells itself as a tailor-made tour operator for high-end customers. Its initial 100 regular clients, all "members" of the company, are said to be millionaires including IT giant Alibaba's CEO Ma Yun and property giant Vantone's chairman Feng Lun. Membership fees can be as high as 150,000 yuan ($22, 815). The company, set up in December 2007, has grown to more than 20,000 clients served by about 100 staff.

Meng Ran, the editor of the newly launched Luxury Traveler Chinese quarterly, says the nation's high-end travel market is growing significantly and its demands are spanning the world. Her publication introduces top travel, hotel and lifestyle choices for its "club members" and those who can afford these luxuries.

"We've recently done articles on the North Pole, as well as items themed on Africa and luxury cruises."

For most of the elite Chinese travel clients, who often make up a who's who list of the country's rich and famous, personalized services - and anonymity - are essential when they vacation.

Tiffany Chen, a private agent for a number of Chinese celebrities and entertainers, says her clients are always on the lookout for high-end tour operators offering "unusual and unforgettable" travel experiences.

"My clients usually travel in small networks that are made up of wealthy individuals they all know each other and money is never an issue," Chen says.

"But the number of Chinese holidaymakers who can afford luxury travel is increasing, so the demand for more unusual, exotic and over-the-top travel programs among the wealthy is definitely growing as well."

Still, one of the offerings by Trip TM during the latest Spring Festival holidays was "simple" enough - organizing a two-week shopping spree for a group of six VIPs in Paris, Milan, Rome and Florence.

"Our clients usually want to spend quality time with their families during important holidays like Spring Festival, so these trips are more toned down at this time of the year," Zou says.

(China Daily 02/20/2011 page16)