China Rendez-Vous Meets A New Era

China’s faltering stock market has sparked concerns across the global financial sector. However, with a weaker Yuan expected to attract global visitors in an investment boom, Serena Ren, General Manager of the Hainan Visun Rendez-Vous Ltd, believes the show’s ability to lure high net-worth individuals from around the world can also act as a much-needed catalyst for financial growth.

“Hainan is an open, inclusive and international island,” says Ren. “It not only possesses the most desirable geographic location and climate, it also enjoys advantageous governmental policy towards the yacht industry, creating possibilities and convenience for China’s high net-worth individuals.”

“With these unique advantages, Sanya can attract HNWIs from other areas to support its luxury industry and yacht industry. At the same time, it is important to lay the foundation for local luxury lifestyle industries. Also, in order to attract more HNWIs, we think learning from other Southeast Asian countries to further develop a local luxury lifestyle industry is crucial.”

Despite the uncertainties surrounding China’s financial health, the country’s vast expansion programme in the field of yachting and luxury tourism remains firmly in place. Central to these plans is the Royal Visun Marina, home of the China Rendez-Vous and a guiding light in marina development in China.

“Initiated and launched by Visun group, China Rendez-Vous is definitely the most important event in Hainan,” says Ren. “Since 2010, it has developed as Asia’s first lifestyle exhibition in terms of scale, exhibitor brands, the amount of visitors and orders. There are also several factors that have contributed to our expansion plans.

“First of all, the Sanya government’s support over the past five years has made China Rendez-Vous possible. In addition, without Visun Group’s funds to carry out research, such as traveling to the Morocco Yacht Fair to draw lessons, the show could not have been so successful. Finally, we put a lot of effort on staff hiring and training our professional team to ensure Hainan Visun Rendez-Vous meets the standards of other international luxury lifestyle exhibitions.”

The expansion programme has also included the construction of a third Pier in order to meet growing demand from superyachts. According to Lily Chen, Marketing Manager of Visun Royal Yacht Club, this was an essential move.

“With the growing number of superyachts wanting to visit, existing piers cannot satisfy the demand for berths,” says Chen. “The newly built pier meets this demand with 385 berths and 7 even larger superyacht berths, two of which are 165 foot long and the remaining five are 140 foot long.”

“In addition, to meet the Sanya government’s requirement, Visun Group has not only fulfilled the demands of elite visitors, but we also built a public yacht pier to provide entertainment and utility for a wider audience.”

At a time of financial turbulence, the positivity surrounding the China Rendez-Vous, and the ambition the country is showing through the development of major infrastructure to attract global investment and boost tourism numbers, demonstrates there is plenty of life left in the world’s second largest economy.

“Luxury tourism has risen since 2013,” Ren confirms. “It is a significant component and provides direction on the development of the broader Chinese tourism industry. Also, luxury tourism is crucial for the growth of the Chinese economy as well as the overall industrial structure.

“In the past 10 years, China’s luxury lifestyle industry has experienced significant changes. There is a growing number of elites who desire high-tech lifestyle information from around the world in order to improve their quality of life. In general, we hold optimistic views about the future of the luxury lifestyle industry in China."