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For Asian tourists in particular, the fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle is a key destination, not just for the magical views but also for shopping.
At the foot of the castle lies Galeria Lisl in Hohenschwangau, one of the top shopping hotspots in Germany. Here, tourists can find popular luxury brands, exceptional customer service and, thanks to the cooperation with Planet, an international payments provider, a fast and convenient VAT refund system.
Nearly 1.5 million people visited Neuschwanstein Castle in 2018, with international tourists accounting for a large share of the total. Nearly 50 percent of overnight guests in neighbouring Füssen were from abroad, and the majority from Asia.
Germany has always been a popular destination for Asian tourists, particularly with Japanese tourists who were the most frequent visitors to Germany for many years. However, since 2015, Germany has welcomed more visitors from China than any other nation and the arrival figures continue to grow each year.
These tourists are particularly attracted to Neuschwanstein castle, or "Xin Tian E Bao" as the landmark is called in Chinese, as a trip to this enchanted place is often considered a lifelong dream. This is partly due to the fact that Chinese superstar, singer and actor Zhou Jielun's wedding pictures were taken in front of the impressive backdrop.
These images reached millions of followers on his social channels, sky rocketing the awareness and popularity of Neuschwanstein with this new Asian audience. As a result Neuschwanstein has become a number one destination for Asian tourists.
Despite the growing trend towards individual travel, Asian tourists still like to book group trips to visit Europe. The Galeria Lisl initially took advantage of this in the mid-nineties, when Japanese tourists discovered Germany as a travel destination.
Hohenschwangau was the perfect place for a business that focused both its range of products and services on Asian tourist groups. In 1996 our business was the first of its kind here in town.Every Japanese woman has a small towel with her in her handbag. One of our first blockbusters were therefore small, high-quality towels from 'Chenilleweberei Feiler', which customers bought not only for themselves, but also for relatives and friends as souvenirs.
Masamichi Watanabe, CEO of Euro Asia Trading, founder of Galeria Lisl
The Galeria Lisl quickly became the first port of call for Asian tourist groups visiting Germany. The success of the Galeria Lisl became so great that in 2016 they built a larger building at the entrance to Hohenschwangau offering a range of products targeted towards Asian shoppers. This new 570 sqm sales area included watches and jewelry from brands such as Gucci, Casio or Seiko; stationery from Mont Blanc and Lamy; kitchen utensils from Fissler and WMF; suitcases from Rimowa in addition to several luxury cosmetic brands and dietary supplements.
Suitcases proved to be incredibly popular with these tour groups, as they recognised these brands from well-known action films. "We are very proud to be one of the few exclusive retailers to offer Rimowa suitcases. Thanks to the larger storage space in the new store, we can now also serve all our customers' wishes in sufficient quantities," says Vincent Ashe, Managing Director of Galeria Lisl.
Thanks to the larger building, Galeria Lisl can also offer services that are highly appreciated by tourist groups and their tour guides. Coaches can park for free and customers can use generously designed washroom facilities. "It may seem simple, but if we have large groups in our store at the same time, customers are happy if they don't have to queue to use a washroom.With an average of thirty minutes at Galeria Lisl included in their travel itinerary, every minute counts.
And we want to make our customers' stay as pleasant as possible," explains Vincent Ashe.
The Galeria Lisl also offers free Wifi and multilingual information signs and product descriptions and many of the sales staff are from Japan and China to reduce communication conflict.VAT refunds are also part of the service.
All Asian tourists know Tax Free Shopping and use it as a matter of course because it saves them money
Vincent Ashe, Managing Director, Galeria Lisl
To help streamline the VAT refund process and improve the customer's experience Galeria Lisl partnered with Planet, international payment provider, to introduce a new cash register system in the summer of 2017.
"It was important for us to implement an efficient VAT refund process to satisfy the growing number of customers from China and their preferred payment methods. Alipay is one of the most popular payment methods for Chinese tourists so it was essential that we had a platform that worked alongside it. The digital system works particularly well as Chinese customers in particular want an immediate VAT refund and don't want to wait until they leave Germany". says Ashe.
Together with the Galeria Lisl team, the Planet team analysed the checkout process and preferred payment methods. "Planet understood our processes extremely quickly and asked exactly the right questions to complete the analysis," comments Ashe. "That's why we decided to work with Planet, and the team efficiently and effectively implemented the technical integration between the POS system and our IT."
When it comes to deciding whether international tourists make use of Tax Free shopping offers or not, the process to receive a VAT refund plays a decisive role. If merchants allow their Chinese customers to receive their VAT refund through Alipay or WeChat Pay, or offer a Refund Point in the shop, the probability of the shopper utilising the Tax Free Shopping opportunities increases many times over. At the same time, the tourist can invest the money paid out directly in products and thus generate additional sales.
Pascal Beij, Country Manager, Planet Deutschland
Since the introduction of the new system, the VAT refund payment process has accelerated significantly. One press of a button is all it takes to get the corresponding receipt from the POS system. "This enables us to remain true to our philosophy of offering our customers outstanding quality and hospitality," says Masamichi Watanabe.
"And this quality is our recipe for success. Tour guides know and appreciate us for it, and is one of the reasons why they continue to come to us with their groups and recommend us to other tour guides. The tour guide community is very closely interlaced. Keeping a good rapport with the guides is essential to our reputational success and is one of the best marketing tactics. In the future, we also plan to offer payment possibilities via WeChat."
