China is not only the world's third largest export market for luxury Swiss watches, but tourists from the Middle Kingdom are also making a massivecontribution in what is likely to be a record year for the industry.

Travelling Chinese are helping boost the Swiss market, which is heavily dependent on the tourist trade that has been hit by the soaring value of the Swiss franc. Around half to three-quarters of the Swiss watch sales are estimated to come from non-domestic buyers, a worrying figure when the latest tourism figures reveal less visitors from Germany, France, the U.S, Italy and the U.K.

But as their numbers have declined, the numbers of travellers from China have surged, up 63% this year. And many of them are buying watches, which often carry price tags of CHF10,000 ( 8,000) upwards.

Richemont's Piaget brand estimates around half of its Swiss sales come from tourists, the majority from China.

Sylvain Auroux, Piaget's director for Switzerland, said:

'The 50% of customers who are tourists are becoming more important, they will be about 60% of sales in the coming years. Asian tourists have come thousands of miles and are less sensitive to the franc. For them Switzerland is the home of watch manufacture, and they want to buy here. It is part of the trip, like buying nice clothes in Paris or leather items in Italy.'

Some of the customers are businessmen and women, and wanting to bring back a souvenir, while others visit Switzerland as part of their tour around Europe. The inflow of Asian tourists is helping balance out the Swiss customers who have headed over the border to France and Germany to exploit the higher value of the franc, which reached almost parity against the euro over the summer.

Piaget expects 2011 to be a record year in Switzerland, with sales already 25% ahead of last year, said Mr. Auroux, whose company has just opened its second specialist boutique in Zurich's Bahnhof Strasse. And where the tourists are helping Switzerland deal with currency issues, they are also helping in other European markets, troubled by the current economic uncertainty.

'Richemont said they had double digit growth in Europe during October, but said domestic demand is flat, which shows how the tourists are making up for the slowdown in domestic demand in Europe,' says Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Capital Markets. He estimates tourists to be responsible for around 50% of the European market.

In response, the watchmakers are not only setting up boutiques in fast growing Asian and the Gulf countries, but also setting up sites in Europe too to enticewealthy travellers from these countries. According to reports, Richemont, which also owns brands such as Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, is investing 70 million to open the world's largest store for luxury products in Paris. The Geneva-based company declined to comment on the reports.

Philippe Leopold-Metzger, Chief Executive of Piaget, said: 'We have a strong business in Asia, which is driving some of the business in Europe and elsewhere in the world.'

John Revill

• export [ik´spɔ:t] vt.&n.输出，出口 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• european [juərə´pi:ən] a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人 (初中英语单词)
• domestic [də´mestik] a.家庭的；本国的 (初中英语单词)
• responsible [ri´spɔnsəbəl] a.尽责的；责任重大的 (初中英语单词)
• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• comment [´kɔment] n.&v.评论；评注；注意 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• elsewhere [,elsweə] ad.在别处；向别处 (初中英语单词)
• massive [´mæsiv] a.厚实的；魁伟的 (高中英语单词)
• contribution [,kɔntri´bju:ʃən] n.贡献；捐献；投稿 (高中英语单词)
• dependent [di´pendənt] a.依赖的；从属的 (高中英语单词)
• tourist [´tuərist] n.游客，观光者 (高中英语单词)
• switzerland [´switsələnd] n.瑞士 (高中英语单词)
• sensitive [´sensitiv] a.敏感的；感光的 (高中英语单词)
• exploit [´eksplɔit] n.功绩 vt.剥削；开发 (高中英语单词)
• currency [´kʌrənsi] n.通货；通用；货币 (高中英语单词)
• response [ri´spɔns] n.回答；响应 (高中英语单词)
• specialist [´speʃəlist] n.专家 (英语四级单词)
• setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
• entice [in´tais] vt.诱惑；怂恿 (英语四级单词)
• wanting [´wɔntiŋ, wɑ:n-] a.短缺的；不足的 (英语六级单词)