Alipay, digital payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group (Alibaba Group) and Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel services platform, announced a collaboration with Brand USA and the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) to promote San Diego as a leading travel destination for Chinese tourists.
The collaboration encompasses a comprehensive digital marketing campaign with Alipay and Fliggy, as well as Alipay merchant integration to make it easy for tourists to use their payment method of choice. In 2018, China led all other countries with a USD 34.6 billion spend by tourists and ranked in the top five of international visitation with three million visitors to the US.
“The Chinese traveller is accustomed to using Alipay and Fliggy in their day-to-day lives. So we wanted to help make it as convenient and welcoming as possible for them as they visit San Diego,” said Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA.
“This collaboration with Brand USA and SDTA is the first of its kind for Alibaba in the US, and marks a major initiative to both grow Alipay merchants as well as increase Chinese tourism to the US through the Fliggy app,” said Yulei Wang, vice president and head of North America for Alibaba Group.
San Diego has introduced tools to help local merchants become ‘Alipay-ready’ and is providing training on welcoming and accommodating Chinese tourists. Alipay created a bespoke City Discovery Page for San Diego that includes an interactive map of San Diego, top attractions and travel tips in Chinese, as well as details on merchants who accept Alipay.
By Megha Paul