Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment and digitalization solution, Alipay+, showed three tourism trends that will shape the future, which is good news for global businesses and the industry as a whole.
“Tourism’s importance to economic growth makes it essential for the industry to pursue innovation and new partnerships so that more people can benefit,” said Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International. “Our Alipay+ solution has evolved to include cross-border payments, destination marketing and digital lifestyle services, and we have seen significant adoption as more consumers embrace technology to enhance their travel experience. We believe in a collaborative open approach and will work closely with partners across the industry towards a new future of travel.”
1) Travelers prefer their home payment methods to the benefits of merchants abroad
Alipay+ lets tourists use the app they already know and love to pay for things at home while they are traveling. Alipay+ has seen a rise in transactions around the world thanks to more merchants accepting it and a strong travel rebound. Alipay+ lets people who move across borders enjoy a new market or country while paying like a local.
Alipay for Chinese customers, which is an Alipay+ partner, has been accepted by retailers around the world since 2015, and the number of transactions continues to grow steadily.
Alipay+’s mobile payment partners from all over the world have also grown a lot. More than three times as many people used Alipay+ payment partner apps while traveling abroad in the first nine months of 2024. More than three times as many transfers took place.
Alipay+ has more than 30 payment partners as of October 2024. These include top e-wallets and bank apps from Asia and other regions. It has 1.6 billion users and connects them to more than 90 million retailers in 66 markets.
Alipay+ is always adding more merchants so that more businesses can gain from tourism. This is done through programs like the national QR schemes, which allow for growth at scale for everyone, especially small and medium-sized businesses. Like, in Malaysia, Alipay+ has seen an average 142% rise in purchases every three months through PayNet’s DuitNow QR in the first nine months of 2024. Because transactions are so easy, tourists can easily visit smaller towns, which has led to big growth in places like Kota Kinabalu, Selangor, and Penang.
Travelers are also using their banking apps to book things online before their trips. Over the same time frame, transactions at Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) that accept Alipay+ have gone up by two times. Alipay+ can be used on more than just online travel agencies (OTAs). It can be used by hotels, tourist sites, top airlines like Thai Airways, Malaysian Airlines, and AirAsia, and more.
2) Travelers spend more, with a shift toward localized experiences
Alipay+ payment partners include top payment apps from across Asia, such as Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), Touch ‘n Go eWallet (Malaysia), GCash (the Philippines), KakaoPay, Toss Pay and Naver Pay (South Korea), OCBC (Singapore), TrueMoney (Thailand) and more. Asian travelers are visiting more regional destinations, with the highest number of Alipay+ transactions recorded in the Chinese mainland, Japan, Thailand, Macao SAR and South Korea.
Travel spending habits have also shifted since the Covid pandemic. While travelers are spending more overall, they are spending less on shopping and more on localized experiences. Spending via Alipay+ increasing by 80% on Food & Beverage (F&B) merchants and 50% for attractions. Spending via Alipay+ on transportation such as ride-hailing, taxis and trains have increased by 120%, in line with recent trends to explore destinations more independently.
3) All-in-one payment apps are reshaping travel habits
All-in-one payment apps offering additional services beyond payment have quickly become the go-to technology for Asian travellers. For example, TrueMoney, an Alipay+ payment partner from Thailand, saw its transaction volume through Alipay+ increase over 10-fold since launch. While Asia is the leader in mobile payments, there is also a growing trend for mobile solutions in other regions, as seen by the emergence of e-wallets like Tinaba in Italy and interoperable solutions like Bluecode across Europe.
Alipay+’s partner e-wallets and merchants are increasingly leveraging Alipay+ digital tools to enhance the travel experience for users, offering seamless service and engagement for every step of their journey.
Tourism boards and merchants can use A+Rewards, a customizable destination marketing platform, to increase visibility of local attractions, shops and travel information even before a trip starts. In Southeast Asia, where Alipay+ is widely accepted, the number of claimed destination vouchers from A+Rewards increased by 53% across key campaigns in 2024.
Additionally, merchants can leverage the vast user base of Alipay+ payment partners with customizable digital lifestyle services such as transport, food, tax refunds and more. A notable example is FREENOW, a leading European taxi service, which launched a mini-program directly within Alipay+ partner apps.
