Quintessentially Lifestyle opens to cater to affluent in Mongolia

Qunitessentially Lifestyle says it follows where its members go, and many of these global travellers like to visit lands of opportunity, yet still want the 'essential' services provided for the super affluent.

Quintessentially Lifestyle Mongolia officially opened on 29 March with a launch party. Like all of the company's more than 60 locations worldwide, the outpost will provide 24/7 personalised concierge service, not only for members based in Mongolia, but also for global members travelling to the country.

Olonbayar Erdenebat, Mongolia CEO of Quintessentially Lifestyle, told Campaign Asia-Pacific about this new booming market, and why his company set up its foothold there rather than in other tier-one and tier-two cities in China.

For the growing population of nouveau riche in Mongolia, having a lifestyle manager and accessibility to the rest of the world is a must, he said. This population in Mongolia is a mix of 
entrepreneurs and corporate executives, mainly in the mining industry.

Erdenebat reckons that Mongolia is an attractive market for brands to enter because Mongolians are starting to realise what a "brand" is. Mongolia is becoming more Westernised due to the influence of, for example, cable television, he added.

Quintessentially Lifestyle Mongolia's opening party

Not to say the market is without challenges. Finding the right target market can be difficult, Erdenbat said, because the wealthiest individuals tend to go abroad when it comes to international brands.

“With a rapidly growing economy, Mongolia has attracted very much attention from around the world over the last couple of years," said Vincent Lai, Quintessentially Lifestyle's managing director, Greater China. "We therefore see a need to set up an office to support affluent individuals and corporate partners in the region.

Quintessentually was founded in London in 2000. It has locations in India, the UAE, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, the latter of which is the regional hub for Asia.

The brand plans to open new offices in Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as Poland and Oman, in 2013.