Queensland Government aims to attract millions of Chinese tourists with new card payment scheme 

The Queensland Government has signed a new marketing agreement with global financial company UnionPay International to make it as easy and seamless as possible for Chinese tourists to travel to the state.

UnionPay is a global card scheme company with the world’s largest cardholder base of more than seven billion cards issued to customers across 52 countries and regions.

It’s the second deal of its kind, after the Queensland Government brokered a landmark partnership with the giant Alibaba Group just last year.

Introducing the initiative, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stated "the latest agreement with UnionPay ensures our tourism businesses will be well positioned to cash in on the Chinese tourism boom.

“This UnionPay deal plus the Alibaba partnership – a service that has more than 666 million mobile monthly users on its retail marketplaces in China – makes us the undisputed leaders in this space in Australia.

Queensland Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said data released last month showed China remained Queensland’s largest market for international tourists.

Minister Jones advised “these Chinese visitors spent more than $1.4 billion last year, an all-time record and a 25.4% increase on 2017.

“While there has been a considerable take-up of UnionPay cards by businesses in Queensland not all operators realise they have the capability to accept UnionPay transactions.

"If a Queensland tourism business banks with one of the big four, all they simply need to do is contact their bank and request UnionPay capabilities."

UnionPay International South Pacific General Manager James Yang said the partnership would help promote Queensland to Chinese visitors.

Yang stated “this partnership offers a unique opportunity to reach high-value travellers through new targeted channels.

“We look forward to the execution of this marketing agreement, aligning with Trade and Investment Queensland to promote its travel destination to Chinese visitors.”

Trade and Investment Queensland is running a series of China Payment Expos in key destinations from Cairns to the Gold Coast to help the tourism industry understand the Chinese payment landscape and how to make their business China ready.

The latest agreement was signed by the Queensland Government through Trade and Investment Queensland.