Tourism Australia partners with Alipay to lure Chinese tourists during Lunar New Year festivities
Tourism Australia and mobile payment and lifestyle platform Alipay has announced Sydney as the pilot city for a new service to promote leading tourist and retail destinations to Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year festive period.
The Sydney City Card will introduce Chinese tourists to sights and activities in hotspots around the city, and provides special geo-targeted promotions in key areas such as The Rocks, Darling Harbour, the Sydney Fish Market, Sydney Airport, Westfield Sydney, and Sydney Chinatown.
The interactive mobile map will operate through the Alipay app which, together with its regional partners has more than one billion users worldwide.
In Australia, tens of thousands of merchants accept Alipay, with more than a hundred retailers and tourist destinations such as BridgeClimb Sydney, the Sydney Aquarium, and Captain Cook Cruises involved in the Sydney City Card pilot.
The pilot program will run for 12 months, and launches ahead of the Chinese New Year week-long holiday in February, which will see 400 million Chinese travel – including seven million heading overseas – with Australia among the leading destinations.
Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said Lunar New Year is an increasingly important time of the year for Australian tourism.
“We’re seeing more and more of China’s emerged and emerging high-value travellers looking to use this key holiday break as an opportunity to travel overseas and to popular wish list destinations such as ours,” he said.
“Today’s new generation of free and independent Chinese traveller has extremely high demands of an overseas destination, and a big part of meeting those expectations is undoubtedly around convenience and being made to feel welcome.
“We know the huge importance that Chinese travellers attach to Alipay as a preferred and trusted mobile payment system, and I have every confidence that the added value they’ll receive from the new Sydney City Card will prove hugely popular by making the on-the-ground holiday experience easier and more engaging.”
George Lawson, country manager of Alipay across Australia and New Zealand, said: “The Sydney City Card pilot is an innovative approach to engaging with our largest tourist market, and provides Australia with a critical advantage over other regional tourist hotspots during this peak annual travel period.
“Chinese tourists will be able to access recommendations on what to see, where to shop and how to get around, all within an app they are familiar with and while being offered their preferred payment method around the city.
“Providing this tailored and convenient customer experience is critical to maintaining and enhancing Australia’s reputation as a leading international tourist destination for Chinese travellers.”
The Sydney City Card program will run concurrently with a similar initiative in Queenstown, New Zealand, with the potential for expansion into other major tourist destinations in Australia and New Zealand in the near future.
A 2018 Nielsen study found 99 per cent of Chinese tourists had the Alipay app installed on their mobile phone.
Alipay has also recently partnered with major financial institutions including Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Tyro, making its platform available via their proprietary technology.
China is Australia’s largest and most valuable tourism market, accounting for 81 per cent of the growth in tourism spending in Australia in the last 12 months, and for 27 per cent of total spend by international visitors.
More than 1.4 million Chinese tourists travelled to Australia in the year ending November 2018 (6.2 per cent year-on-year growth), and spent more than $11.5 billion (year-on-year 12 per cent year-on-year growth).
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
Alipay Chinese chinese new year Chinese Tourists lunar new year tourism australiaLatest News
Collette goes off the beaten track with Canyon Country tour
To be clear TW is not advocating actually walking off the beaten track. Avoid the coyotes. Stay on the beaten track.
Intrepid & Korean Tourism Organisation team up to give agents a cooking masterclass
These guys learnt that Korean cooking is more than just putting kimchi on 2-minute noodles (as we once thought).
Winner, winner! Intrepid reveals the 9 lucky agents that won $2k
Who won the incentive? Which Intrepid trip will they spend it on? What day of the week is it again? Where am I? Huh?
Corporate Traveller reports 42% increase in Easter traffic this year
Business travellers just love Easter! Expect plenty of chocolate stained documents returning to the office on Tuesday.
Turbulent year wiped $384m off Qantas brand value: Report
Meanwhile, eating tuna at your desk can damage your own personal office brand value by several thousand dollars.
FAMIL: Room-Res & Singapore Tourism Board shows agents the Lion City’s roar
Click this article to see a man very impressed by a 20-layer chocolate cake. We're not kidding, he loved it!
Oceania Cruises offers sailors free pre-cruise hotel stay
Looking for ways to make your holidays as long as possible? Look no further.
Bonza launches new website to compliment app, agent portal
Does news about an airline's website fill you with ecstasy, glee and joy? Get your hit of the good stuff here.
MTA agents attends ‘Lunch ‘n’ Learn’ with AMA Waterways
When organising the event, Lunch 'n' Learn beat out Dinner 'n' Divulge and Breakfast 'n' Banter. Understandably so.
Travelmarvel reveals 2025 South America tours
If you spot any typos in the newsletter today it is because TW became distracted Googling images of Machu Picchu.
Tourists from 5 countries could be BANNED from visiting Australia
Anthony Albanese's immigration laws could impact tourism from certain countries.
Just how many passengers will Qantas & Jetstar hop around this Easter?
Airline workers are ready for gleeful Easter travellers! Also prepared for sticky children with chocolate on their face.
Air New Zealand gets ready for bumper Easter weekend
Air NZ gears up for travelling passengers this Easter, while TW looks to beat our egg eating record. 117 here we come!
Four Seasons Yachts reveals first itineraries to the Caribbean & Mediterranean
These trips look so good we wish there were five seasons! Alright, we'll see ourselves out...
FAMIL: Travellers Choice treats top agents to the wonders of Rotorua
This one's got plenty of famil pics and no one looks shockingly hungover in them! Clearly no TW staffers were there.
European Waterways celebrates 50th anniversary with week-long founders cruise
Plan on celebrating your 50th anniversary with a bottle of Moët and fairy bread? European Waterways has better ideas.
100th route! Jetstar celebrates the launch of Brisbane-Avalon with 12 hour sale
Jetstar knocks a ton and celebrates with a sale while TW once scored a ton and celebrated with about 17 beers.
Record-breaking year for NSW as visitor expenditure soars past $50 billion
Enjoy running round the Opera House? Be prepared to elbow even more tourists out the way.
Norwegian Cruise Line makes play for solo travellers
NCL ensuring you don't have to go trawling Tinder to find a cruise partner. Thank goodness, we were sick of catfishing.
Entire Travel Group’s Canada and Europe 2024/25 brochures are out now
Entire's new brochure is bittersweet; it both informs your clients and makes you envious of the holiday they'll take.
Malaysia Airlines adds 3 new destinations & A330neo seats
More seats means cheaper airfares and more money to spend on overpriced airport sandwiches. Woohoo!
Two divine days onboard Crystal Serenity
It's only pure serenity onboard this ship. Anxiety, agitation and anguish have been rejected by the bouncer.
How the Globus Family of Brands elevates coach touring: Travel Weekly TV with Chris Fundell
Chris' here so you don't think coaches mean peeling your thighs off a sticky leather seat every time you stand up!
The Flight Centre Foundation gears up for massive 2024 with 3 new board members
The foundation looks to invest $200k this year, spurring the TW journos to figure out how to qualify as a charity.
Barking Owl Communications to head up Anantara & Avani in ANZ
Fellow PR competitors had been barking up the wrong tree even thinking of bidding for this job!
Amex GBT to purchase CWT for $871m
It's big deals like this that get a firm handshake - hence the sore hands over at the CWT and Amex GBT offices.
1000MTG’s second global conference reminds agents to ‘strive and thrive’
Alongside messages to 'strive' and 'thrive' were those to 'survive', 'drive', 'arrive' and 'jive' (when appropriate).
Qantas A330 makes “loud bang”, pilots forced to shut down one engine
Qantas refusing to let Boeing have all the headlines in aviation world today!
GX Community Tourism Summit 2024 location revealed!
The new location has arrived and it'll blow your socks off! Time for another trip to Target for more socks then.
Visiting the destination my Mum didn’t want me to
Yet again, this journo has been a stress to his mother. Discover how this trip spurred his mother's anxiety here.
Agents come out of their shells at P&O’s turtle hatchery event
For some, it's a few glasses of bubbles to lure them out of their shell. For these agents, it was a bit more literal.
Boeing cleanout: CEO, chair to go as safety crisis plagues the manufacturer
CEOs are falling thick and fast these days. We should have started up a bingo game with their headshots in the office.
Virgin looks to swap MAX 10 order for MAX 8s amid Boeing delays: Reports
Virgin has changed its order for something smaller. Much like we have to at Maccas following a worrying doctor's visit.
Club Med unveils newest luxury yacht for 2024/25 early bird sale
This yacht is preserved for the early birds! Night Owls may also get onboard depending how late they stay up.
Abercrombie & Kent 2024 Asia Portfolio is here
Round up the family and get planning an Asia jaunt. Or, if they're hard to handle, brush them all and go it alone!
Elevate your earnings: Final days to secure double commission with Inspiring Vacations’ March offer
What could inspire you to sell more Inspiring Vacations? Double commission of course! That's all the inspiration needed.