Overseas Chinese tourists boost consumer spending in Year of the Dragon as Alipay transactions increase 7 per cent from 2019
- Transactions made overseas by Alipay users from February 9-12 were 7 per cent higher than for the same holiday period in 2019, a sign of recovery for the sector
- Alipay’s use as an international payment app has been facilitated by the Alipay+ campaign, in which 8 million merchants in over 70 countries signed up
The Year of the Dragon may have signalled the return of the overseas Chinese tourist, with preliminary data from popular payment service Alipay showing an increase in transactions this year compared with 2019, the last time international borders were open before the onset of the pandemic.
Alipay operator Ant Group, the fintech business affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding, said in a statement that transactions made overseas by Alipay users from February 9-12 were 7 per cent higher than for the same holiday period in 2019, with a 45 per cent increase in Hong Kong, a clear sign of recovery for the outbound tourism sector.
Meanwhile, the value of Chinese consumer spending overseas recovered to 82 per cent of the 2019 level, according to Ant. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, France, Australia and Canada were the top destinations for Chinese tourists, based on Alipay spending. In Hong Kong, 90 per cent of merchants in the city now accept the payment app.
Alipay’s use as an international payment app has been facilitated by the Alipay+ campaign, in which 8 million merchants in over 70 countries signed up, while new policies in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia that provide visa-free travel for Chinese passport holders also helped promote cross-border spending.