Chinese tourists go cashless at Singapore attractions

Leading mobile payment platform Alipay has revealed the successful conclusion of a first ‘cashless’ trip made by Chinese visitors to Singapore.

Backed by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in partnership with Resort World Sentosa, Shangri-La Hotel and Singapore Airlines, the trip was designed to promote Singapore’s various destination offerings that accept Alipay’s cashless payment platform to demonstrate to Chinese visitors that they can enjoy the same seamless experience in Singapore as they at home.

At the same time, the visitors were also encouraged to explore the city with itineraries tailored to their passions. Through a social media campaign, Alipay and STB invited six lucky users to go on a Singaporean sojourn that was cashless in execution.

During the trip, the visitors used Alipay for purchases including meals, accommodations, transportation, gifts and souvenirs, and entertainment experiences with distinct travel itineraries curated by the STB.

Singapore is attracting a growing number of Chinese tourists, partly due to the efforts of local merchants to address the evolving needs and spending habits of Chinese visitors.

According to the STB, over 3.2 million Chinese tourists visited Singapore in 2017 with the city state welcoming more tourists from China than from any other country for the first time last year.

Chinese tourists are also the largest source of tourist spending in Singapore.

Commenting on the initiative, Jacqueline Ng, Director of Marketing Partnerships and Planning for the Singapore Tourism Board advised “we are pleased to have partnered with Alipay in this activity given their strong reach and understanding of the Chinese market, our top source market for both visitor arrivals and tourist spending.

We hope to use the insights from this initiative to explore better ways of engaging Chinese visitors and to offer more compelling and seamless experiences through Alipay that are better tailored to their passions.”

Cherry Huang, Alipay’s General Manager, Cross-border Business for South and South east Asia, added “we are very pleased to work with the Singapore Tourism Board to provide a cashless experience for Chinese tourists travelling to Singapore.

“Through Alipay, we hope to help even more merchants in Singapore connect with Chinese tourists.”

Data from Nielsen has indicated that 65% of Chinese tourists use mobile payment platforms during their overseas travels, six times more than non-Chinese tourists (11%). In addition, over 90% of Chinese tourists would consider using Alipay when traveling abroad if Alipay was more widely accepted among foreign merchants. Moreover, over 90% of Chinese tourists indicated they would increase their spending if Alipay was an accepted payment method.

Last year, Finland became the first country to offer Chinese tourists a completely cashless experience. A group of Chinese visitors paid for all of their local transactions via their Alipay accounts, from booking flights, making retail purchases, and dining out, to visiting museums, experiencing recreational activities, and managing transportation, as well as receiving an instant tax refund at the Helsinki airport.

Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently has over 520 million active users and over 200 domestic financial institution partners. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler.

Lower image shows Resorts World Sentosa.