Looking at a newspaper the other day, what struck me was that almost every headline included words such as “crisis”, “worst ever”, “collapse”, “dire” and so on. I’m normally a glass-half-full person but it felt as if the end of the world was truly nigh.

Looking at a newspaper the other day, what struck me was that almost every headline included words such as “crisis”, “worst ever”, “collapse”, “dire” and so on. I’m normally a glass-half-full person but it felt as if the end of the world was truly nigh.

It would be wrong to underplay the economic situation in a growing number of European countries. But is it any wonder that shoppers are retreating into their bunkers, with little sign that they are coming out this side of Christmas, when the news is uniformly gloomy?

So are there any bright spots for retailers at present? Well there is one but it seems that governments and bureaucracy are conspiring to make even that as dim as possible. The bright spot is high-spending tourists from emerging markets who want to visit the major
cities of the world and the UK with the primary objective of spending lots of money.

But visa restrictions appear to be making this virtually impossible for large numbers of Chinese and Indian visitors.

Being just days away from this year’s World Retail Congress I have had first-hand experience of that when delegates from several countries have contacted us for help in trying to broker visa applications and, even more frustratingly, when they cancel bookings because visas have been refused.

The campaign to get this situation reformed and simplified has begun to be heard and isn’t restricted to the UK. Speaking to some leading New York retailers, they say this is one of the biggest issues they have and are desperate for Homeland Security to look again at this.

As if any proof were needed that to turn away millions and millions of pounds at such a “dire” time (sorry, didn’t mean to use that word) is more than crazy, a colleague then told me about escorting some Chinese retailers around London recently.

He said the feeding frenzy in a luxury store where £2,000 per watch was being handed over without so much as a blink was something to behold. And to make you wonder why we should be not welcoming more such visitors with open arms.

  • Ian McGarrigle, Director, World Retail Congress