New | China Rendez-Vous boat expo hopes for tide to turn in wake of sex scandal and graft crackdown
Organisers of upmarket trade show work to shake off scandal and the fallout from the country's crackdown on corruption
In late November the sun is still beating down on the winter playground of Sanya in Hainan province and it's time again for China's moneyed elite to head to China Rendez-Vous.
Shenzhen-based real estate developer Visun Group chairman Lawrence Wang Dafu, whose business empire ranges from property to hospitality and yacht clubs, started the event from scratch six years ago and it has since evolved into the country's largest luxury boat and lifestyle show.
But this year is different.
"Some film stars want to come this year. But we didn't organise for them to come. We want to keep everything low-profile," Wang said.
"It did make China Rendez-Vous a household name overnight. But it's not what we really wanted," Wang said. "Now we have to spend a lot of time explaining that we are innocent. The wives of businessmen don't want them to come."
That onslaught of bad publicity coincided with the start of the central government's austerity campaign and crackdown on corruption, which dealt a severe blow to luxury spending.
As a result, the big international makers of business jets stayed away from China Rendez-Vous last year.
But on the bright side, most of the top yacht firms stayed, happy to see the event become more boat-focused. This year, yachts fresh from factories in Italy and France bob in the water while the booths in the exhibition centre are bulging with imported wine, sports cars and jewellery. In all, more than 100 exhibitors have their wares on show this year, more than last year but 30 per cent fewer than 2013.
To escape the shadow of the photo scandal, the organiser has also scheduled a series of charity and artistic activities in addition to evening parties and a lingerie fashion show.
A senior Visun executive said organisers invited 1,000 guests who were all regular buyers of luxury products. Yet many of the visitors to the show were Sanya residents in search of a taste of the luxury lifestyle.
Thibaut de Montvalon, managing director in China for French yacht maker Beneteau, has exhibited at China Rendez-Vous from the start and said crowds this year seemed slightly better than last year.
"We're here because this event is still the largest and most mature boat show in China. We are also quite confident that the organiser is able to get a lot of qualified buyers," Montvalon said, adding his firm sealed a deal for a 7 million yuan (HK$8.5 million) boat on the event's first day.
Wang said he had lobbied hard to get billionaire buyers to come to the show but in the end sales numbers were not the most important outcome for him. The property tycoon hopes to leverage the event to pivot his business from real estate to leisure and boating. The central government has said publicly that it supports the development of tourism and yachting as a way to boost domestic consumption.
To this end, Wang's company aims to form an alliance with 30 other mainland yacht clubs and port builders, which they hope will give them greater bargaining power in negotiations with foreign companies for distribution rights for boats and other marine products.
"We are eyeing the overseas market as well," he said.
"When we have more club members, we will operate our own yachts in places like Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Monaco and the Mediterranean to serve them as well as international clients.
"That day will come in the next two or three years. All will depend on market conditions."
