Global tourism boost with Chinese payment platform partnerships

With the Spring Festival in the Year of the Dragon approaching, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries have successively introduced visa-free policies for China, which sets off an upsurge in the global tourism industry to welcome Chinese tourists for the Chinese New Year. On January 29th, Alipay, a Chinese mobile payment platform, cooperated with millions of merchants around the world to launch a month-long promotion during the Chinese New Year, which is convenient for Chinese tourists to "travel the world with a mobile phone" for payment.

According to the person in charge of Alipay's outbound travel business, Alipay currently covers more than 70 countries and regions around the world and eight million overseas merchants. Alipay has access to countless characteristic small and medium-sized businesses in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and other surrounding travel hotspots. In response to the Chinese tourists' outbound travel trend, Alipay has designed a full range of travel tips for eating, drinking, playing, and shopping, such as a selection of souvenirs in Hong Kong and Macao, discounts in Thailand and Malaysia, and dining promotions in Singapore.

It is worth mentioning that when tourists arrive at the top ten international airports in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Canada, etc., they can directly use Alipay to scan the code and receive exclusive discounts in the immigration hall, as well as real-time tax refund and early tax refund at the airport. 

"Chinese tourists are more accustomed to using mobile payment, which has driven the 'upgrading' of the entire tourism industry in the Middle East," said Rob Whitehouse, Vice President of Strategy and Planning at Dubai Airport. Currently, all duty-free shops at Dubai Airport accept payment through Alipay.

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