曼徹斯特珠寶商獲中國遊客青睞
The north of England has never been morepopular with Chinese tourists. In 2015, there were 64,000 visits from China, upfrom 35,000 in 2014 — a record, according to national tourism agencyVisitBritain. Direct flights to Beijing from Manchester begin this month, andShanghai could follow, further boosting tourism.
英格蘭北部地區從未像現在這樣受到中國遊客青睞。2015年，來自中國的遊客多達6.4萬人，遠高於2014年的3.5萬人——據英國旅遊業管理機構英國旅遊局(VisitBritain)稱，這是一個創紀錄的水平。從北京直飛曼徹斯特的航班最近開通，不久還可能開通從上海直飛的航班，這將進一步推動旅遊業發展。
Rising numbers of visitors — often to seerelatives or to watch Premier League football — have increased their economiccontribution. In 2015, Chinese tourists spent ￡83m in the north, up 17 per centon the previous year, according to VisitBritain. The Marketing Manchesteragency has developed a guide in Mandarin to tax-free shopping in the city,distributed in China as well as in Britain (the guide is also available inCantonese and Arabic).
隨着遊客人數的增加——往往是爲了探親訪友或者觀看英格蘭足球超級聯賽(Premier League)——他們對拉動經濟的貢獻也在加大。英國旅遊局的數據顯示，2015年中國遊客在英格蘭北部地區支出了8300萬英鎊，較上年增長了17%。曼徹斯特推廣機構Marketing Manchester製作了一份簡體中文導購手冊，介紹曼徹斯特市內的免稅購物點，在中國以及英國分發（該手冊還有繁體中文和阿拉伯語版）。
Luxury businesses in particular arebenefiting from the influx of Chinese visitors: at Boodles, a family-ownedjeweller that dates back to 1798, Chinese clients account for more than 10 percent of turnover at its Manchester shop. The company has hosted several mealsat Chinese restaurants for valued clients.
奢侈品行業尤其受益於中國遊客的涌入：在可以追溯到1798年的家族所有珠寶商Boodles，中國客戶貢獻了其曼徹斯特商鋪超過10%的營業額。該公司已經在中式餐廳舉辦了數次餐會，宴請重要客戶。
Michael Wainwright, managing director, saysthat the Liverpool-based business had always been popular with local Chinese.“Now we have their relatives from China and Hong Kong coming in. Students alsobring their parents. Sunday afternoons are when we usually see them.
Boodles董事總經理邁克爾•溫賴特(MichaelWainwright)表示，總部設在利物浦的該公司一直深受當地中國人的喜愛。“現在這些客戶來自中國內地和香港的親屬也來光顧我們的店鋪。中國留學生也帶來了他們的父母。我們通常會在星期天下午見到他們。”
“They really like diamonds —they do not go somuch for coloured stones. They also like Patek Philippe watches —they arethe only third-party item we sell. It is hard to get them in China and they area lot more expensive.”
“他們真的非常喜愛鑽石——他們對彩色寶石就沒有這麼高的興致。他們還喜歡百達翡麗(Patek Philippe)的手錶——這是我們銷售的唯一第三方產品。百達翡麗在中國國內難以買到，價格也貴得多。”
Hancocks jewellers, also in Manchester’s primeKing Street shopping district, occasionally opens specifically for wealthyChinese customers in the evenings. Roy Lunt, the owner, says there has been abig increase in Chinese shoppers, who now account for a 10th of sales. One ofhis prize possessions is a sales slip for ￡220,000 for a single ruby that wentto a Chinese customer.
Hancocks珠寶店同樣位於曼徹斯特主要商業區國王街(KingStreet)，該店有時會在晚間專門爲富有的中國顧客開店營業。其所有者羅伊•倫特(Roy Lunt)表示，來自中國的購物者近來顯著增加，現已佔到了銷售額的十分之一。他的珍藏品之一是一張售貨單，其中記錄的一顆紅寶石以22萬英鎊被一位中國客戶買走。
“There is nothing of this quality outside London. We get a lot ofreferrals from jewellers there,”he says.
他表示：“倫敦以外幾乎找不到這等品質的珠寶，而我們接待了大量由倫敦珠寶商介紹過來的客戶。”
Word of mouth also works well. “We sold asapphire ring worth ￡50,000. The lady took it back to Hong Kong and someone sawit and said how beautiful it was, then they came over to buy from me.”
口碑營銷同樣效果顯著。“我們售出了一枚價值5萬英鎊的藍寶石戒指。那位女士將戒指帶回了香港，其他人見了以後大讚這枚戒指多麼美麗，然後他們也來到我這裏購買珠寶。”
Another attraction of Manchester is thatprices there can be lower than in London because of the northern city’s lowerrents and wages.
曼徹斯特吸引人的另一個地方在於，這裏的價格有可能低於倫敦，因爲這座北方城市的房租和工資水平較低。
Manchester has more than 14,000 ethnicChinese residents, according to the 2011 census, along with thousands morestudents at its universities. Nearby Liverpool has 8,000 Chinese residents, aswell as 3,200 students, and is twinned with Shanghai, which modelled itswaterfront on that of the British port.
2011年的人口調查顯示，曼徹斯特有超過1.4萬華裔市民，此外這裏的大學還有數以千計的中國留學生。鄰近的利物浦有8000名華裔市民以及3200名中國留學生。利物浦與上海是姐妹城市，當年上海的外灘就是以這座英國港口城市爲藍本規劃的。
Boodles’shop at Harrodsdepartment store in London has a Chinese-speaking member of staff, andManchester could be next, Mr Wainwright says.
溫賴特表示，Boodles在倫敦哈羅德(Harrods)百貨商店的店面配備了一名會說中文的店員，曼徹斯特商店可能是下一家聘請說中文店員的商店。
The jeweller has no plans, however, for astore in China, after closing its Hong Kong branch. “It is a verydifficult place to do business. We are very happy to sell to them here in theUK,”Mr Wainwright says.
但Boodles目前沒有計劃在中國開設店鋪，此前該公司關閉了在香港的分公司。溫賴特稱：“在中國做生意難度很大。我們非常樂於在英國國內向中國客戶銷售商品。”
