Chinese Tourism Boom That Propped Up Luxury Brands Is Faltering

For the better part of a decade, wealthy Chinese tourists have been on a feeding frenzy for luxury brands, casinos and cruise lines. Now there are doubts about how long the buffet will last.

From Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza shopping district to Hong Kong, Macau and New York’s Fifth Avenue, there are noticeable cracks in what has been the very bankable strategy of catering to throngs of newly affluent Chinese traveling the world. Explanations vary from China’s slowing economy to the government’s push to spur spending at home and fluctuations in currency values. Whatever the reason, the result is increasing worry across the globe.