Alipay+, Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment venture, has revealed three trends shaping the future of tourism to the benefit of global merchants and the industry.
“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.”
Travelers prefer their home payment methods
Alipay+ enables travellers to use their familiar home payment app when going abroad. An expanding merchant coverage and a strong travel recovery, Alipay+ has seen a surge in transactions globally.
In the first nine months of 2024, the number of people using an Alipay+ payment partner apps while abroad increased by three times, and the number of transactions increased by more than three times.
As of October 2024, Alipay+ has more than 30 payment partners, including leading e-wallets and bank apps from Asia and beyond, with 1.6 billion consumers, connecting consumers to more than 90 million merchants in 66 markets.
Travelers spend more, with a shift toward localised 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 travellers 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 travellers are spending more overall, they are spending less on shopping and more on localised experiences.
Spending increasing by 80% on Food & Beverage (F&B) merchants and 50% for attractions. Spending on transportation such as ride-hailing, taxis and trains have increased by 120%, in line with recent trends to explore destinations more independently.
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.
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