Service aims to enrich lifestyle of the rich

When a largely global company does business through realizing people's dreams, what challenges will they face in China?

One is beginning to find out.

Aspire Lifestyles, a global brand for concierge services and lifestyle management, owned by medical and travel security risk company International SOS, started to enrich the lives of wealthy Chinese by opening an office in Shanghai in November.

It's targeting the world's second-largest economy where there is a growing number of people with lots of spare money.

Yu Huan, a 28-year-old white-collar worker in Beijing, said he is very much interested in the services that Aspire Lifestyles can provide.

"I haven't heard about a company like this before. It sounds expensive but fun," he said.

Yu plans to hold his wedding on an island not open to the public in the Caribbean Sea, setting a budget of 3 million yuan ($491,500) as a maximum.

"I want all my friends and family to be there, enjoying a nice buffet with a nice sea view. Fireworks are a must during the wedding, as well as a romantic setting," he said. "I hope the company can arrange all the details from booking the flights to getting approval for the rights to hold the wedding on the island."

Laurent Sabourin, group managing director for Aspire Lifestyles, said such wishes are manageable based on the company's strong network.

"Chinese customers' expectations are increasing at a fast rate," he said. "Our company provides access to information and exclusive plans to help people know what is available to them."

The global concierge service industry is a $1.5 billion market, mostly centered in the United States. But it is far from being a mature industry in China.

"However, we believe within a few years, the Chinese market will become as important as the US is to us," said Sabourin. "We expect double-digit growth in the China market in the coming years."

By the end of 2012, China had more than 1.05 million people with a personal wealth of 10 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Keynes Chen, general manager of Aspire Lifestyles China.

"Everything is possible here," he said.

Services offered by the company include arranging one-on-one conversations for clients to communicate with the world's top designers at Paris Fashion Week or getting the chance to learn cooking from the finest star chefs.

Among various kinds of requirements and demands from Chinese clients, Chen said the most popular concierge services in China include bespoke travel design, high-end health management, overseas study and the purchase of luxury items.

According to Sabourin, shopping needs are sometimes as urgent as medication.

In recent years, luxury goods are becoming increasingly popular among the new rich in China.

However, it is not always easy to get what they want even they have enough money for many reasons such as limited editions of certain products, the need to travel long distances to foreign shops or simply lack of knowledge.

"We could arrange a shopping assistant who could help our clients to shop globally because we know where and how to buy some items when it is hard for others," said Sabourin.

"We are undertaking trading," he said. "It's all about arrangement."

Bai Bing, an industry insider with several years of work experience at a five-star hotel in Shanghai, said besides luxury good purchases, China's sports market is huge for Aspire Lifestyles because the growing middle-class population requires more choice and high-end activities for leisure.

"They (the middle class) may want to watch a basketball game or football game in the US or Brazil or any other place in the world. Some of them want certain good seats at events. They might want to attend a high-end private concert for networking or business reasons. These things cannot be realized just with money," said Bai.

Such requirements need a professional service provider with a strong network to get them, whether they are tickets or invitations, which Aspire Lifestyles can achieve, he said.

"However, they also face challenges in China because the really influential high-end Chinese customers already have their own way to get what they want, while the middle class may not have enough money to afford the services," he said.

However, Sabourin stressed that the service is not only for the rich, but for everyone.

"Our biggest challenge is to make sure that we are listening to the needs of our clients because the areas of their interests are changing fast, especially in China."