According to the Boston Consulting Group, wealthy Chinese visitors to the French capital use 20 percent of their trip budgets for accommodation and blow twice as much on shopping - the opposite of Americans' spending patterns.
"The priority is to return home with material signs of affluence - they're not very interested in the intangibles," said BCG associate Jean-Marc Bellaiche.
Even well-off Chinese tourists often choose to sleep in two-star hotels near Charles de Gaulle airport and travel into Paris to shop, Bellaiche said.
But the plusher Paris establishments are eyeing a bigger share of their spending, which typically amounts to 15,000-20,000 euros ($20,000-$26,000) per trip, according to Global Blue, a tax-free shopping services provider.
The five-star Plaza Athenee on Avenue Montaigne has hired a translator to assist Chinese guests with wine-tastings from the hotel's 40,000-bottle cellar.
Packets of noodles and chilli sauce have been added to minibars, Managing Director Francois Delahaye said. "It's also very important to have tea available day or night."
Center>Copyright Reuters, 2012