Spending time with the family is considered less important than fishing and wine tasting
Travel is now the favoured leisure activity of China 's richest individuals, according to new research into the lifestyle of China 's emerging elite. The research carried out by the Hurun Report , leading media and events company for China 's richest entrepreneurs, questioned 600 Mainland Chinese entrepreneurs with wealth of at least 10 million RMB on their lifestyle and spending habits. 28 per cent of those interviewed said that their number one hobby was travel, followed by swimming (22 per cent) and golf (12 per cent). Interestingly spending time with the family ranked only ninth– coming even lower than fishing and wine tasting.
Whilst Australia was the overall top travel destination, the survey highlighted clear cultural difference between the regions. Beijing 's entrepreneurs favoured the US , with Shanghai 's entrepreneurs preferring European destinations, citing France as their top destination for 2006.
China 's richest are also becoming aware of the gems sitting on their own doorstep with Hainan's Sanya named as top domestic destination and Yunnan province coming a close second. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing also all rated highly as shopping destinations.
Rupert Hoogewerf, CEO of the Hurun Report said the 2006 findings suggest a boom in China 's luxury travel market, “New-found wealth and mobility means that travel, and in particularly international travel, is now high on the agenda for China 's elite. As China 's entrepreneurs increasingly travel abroad on business they are learning more about luxury travel and the tastes of their overseas counterparts and want the same experiences for themselves”.
Preferred Brands of China 's Richest
In addition to lifestyle trends, the survey also questioned China 's entrepreneurs about their preferred brands covering 9 categories and 56 specific awards. In recognition of the differences between regions, the Hurun Report extended the 2006 Awards to include nine individual regions, highlighting the relative strengths of local agents relied upon by the luxury brands.
Hoogewerf says: “While European brands took the lion's share of the 2006 Awards, there are a growing number of domestic brands, significantly in alcoholic drinks, private members and golf clubs. Western brands dominate in hotels, cars, watches and jewelry.”
Watches continue to be a huge status symbol for China 's elite and in addition to being named Best Jewelry Brand, France 's Cartier also walked away with the Best High Jewelry Watch award, demonstrating that despite being a traditionally female brand Cartier has made strong inroads with China 's predominantly male entrepreneurs. Switzerland 's Vacheron Constantin, a long-term player in the Chinese luxury watch market was voted Best Watch with High Complications, beating global leader and relative new-comer to China , Patek Philippe.
In the drinks category Hennessy beat 2005 winner Rémy Martin into second place, mainly thanks to a strong marketing campaign in Shanghai and Guangdong provinces and increased popularity with the younger generation of entrepreneurs.
In the travel categories, Lufthansa, now flying double daily from 3 cities in China to Europe, took the prize for Best European Airline, with Air China winning Best Domestic Airline. Shangri-La was awarded best International Hotel Chain for the second year running.
A full list of the Hurun Report's 2006 Best of The Best Awards Winners accompanies this release.
