Alipay+ Launches Global Chinese New Year Campaigns as Travel Industry Promises a Year of Growth

As the tourism industry continues to rebound strongly, with signs pointing to a year of strong growth in 2025, Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation solution, Alipay+, is partnering with global merchants to launch new Chinese New Year campaigns for travellers.

In line with Chinese New Year, the first travel peak of the year, Alipay+ is partnering with merchants to introduce joint promotions for Alipay+ payment partner users. The initiative comes as regions globally welcome a greater number of travellers than pre-pandemic in 2019.

In the Asia hotspots of Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, a joint report by Ant International and IDC found that tourism spending will increase more than 330 per cent by 2027, and greater integration of payment methods across online and offline commerce will unlock even greater growth.

Alipay+ supports over 35 international wallet and bank payment partners, connecting 1.6 billion user accounts to over 90 million merchants across 66 markets. Alipay+ recently enabled acceptance for new partners, including Kaspi.kz in Kazakhstan and BigPay in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, connecting even more users to its global merchants.

In China, users of AlipayHK, Mpay, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, TrueMoney and GCash, will be able to access promotional packs in over 100 Consumer Friendly Zones across various cities, with merchant spotlights and special discounts. Meanwhile, in South Korea, Alipay+ users can enjoy tiered discounts at selected merchants. The NAMANE x Alipay+ Transit Pass Card was also recently launched for nationwide use on buses and subways to facilitate ease of travel.

In the Middle East, Alipay+ payment partner users can access discounts at all Alipay+ merchants across the region and upsized rewards at duty-free stores in major airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Istanbul.

Capitalising on tourism growth

More than 90 per cent of Alipay+ merchants are MSMEs, so the mobile payment solution aims to help these small businesses grow by accepting multiple international payment apps.

“Tourism is playing an increasingly significant role in local economies, accelerating growth for merchants across sectors, but businesses need to adapt to new digital habits and preferences,” explained Douglas Feagin, president of Ant International. “Starting with mobile payments, Alipay+ offers merchants solutions to connect, engage and retain customers who want to leverage technology to enhance their travel experiences. We will continue to offer more innovative ways for businesses to transform and benefit from the continued growth in tourism.”

Through Alipay+’s partnerships with standardised QR operators like PayPay in Japan, ZeroPay in South Korea, DuitNow in Malaysia, SGQR in Singapore and the Alipay merchant network in the Chinese mainland, users of Alipay+’s partner payment apps can make convenient payment almost everywhere in these Asian hotspots. Alipay+ is continuing to grow its acceptance in Europe with over 400,000 merchants and supporting interoperable payments via Bluecode.

Through A+Rewards, an in-app destination marketing platform, merchants and tourism boards can directly engage travellers, and offer exclusive promotions to attract more new customers.

Further enhancing and streamlining the travel experience, Alipay+ also offers mini-program development solutions so users of its payment partners can access a range of services, ranging from attractions booking, ride-hailing and tax refunds directly within the app, saving the hassle of downloading additional apps or spending time for physical processes.

Ahead of the Chinese New Year, the Geneva Tourism Bureau is leveraging Alipay+’s mini-program solution to launch an in-app hub on select e-wallets and banking apps to support tourists with their navigation, booking attractions, and enhancing the travel experience in Switzerland.