Hotel Due Torri, Verona.
The Duetorrihotels Group, representing excellence in the Italian hotel business, is the first in Italy to offer the Alipay service, a consumer preference among Chinese travellers abroad. The Group’s six hotels already satisfy the criteria and qualifications recognised by the Chinese tourist market.
BOLOGNA – Italy and the People’s Republic of China have never been so close: the Duetorrihotels Group has introduced a payment method that benefits Chinese tourists. The POSs of the Group’s hotels can now accept Alipay, China’s most widely used payment system, with 300 million users.
This is happening in precisely the year, 2018, when the European Union and People’s Republic of China are investing in shared promotion of sustainable tourism, supporting investment opportunities and facilitating flight connections and the issue of tourist visas.
Enhancing services
“We’re the only hotel Group in Italy,” states Franco Vanetti, General Manager of Duetorrihotels S.p.a., “to offer our guests the option of making payments for their stay through Alipay. We’re enhancing our advanced-technology services to create a better experience for tourists, eliminating language, cultural and currency barriers for Chinese tourists and for the Group.”
Duetorrihotels and Chinese tourism service
This new development is part of the path already undertaken some time ago by the Group. In 2016 it achieved “China Outbound Tourism Quality Service Certification” for the 6 hotels it is proud to call its own: the Grand Hotel Majestic in Bologna, the Due Torri Hotel in Verona, the Hotel Bernini Palace in Florence, the Hotel Bristol Palace in Genoa and the Hotel Santa Barbara and Hotel Alga in Milan. This is a quality certification for the supply of tourism services to Chinese travellers which the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) viewed as highly desirable in 2013.
The Duetorrihotels Group
For Duetorrihotels, this initiative consolidates its reputation as an Italian hotel industry leader that attends closely to the needs of its guests. The Group owns four Luxury Hotels – 2 of which members of The Leading Hotels of the World and Locali Storici d’Italia (Historic Italian Establishments) – in four Italian art cities (Bologna, Florence, Genoa and Verona) – and two Business Hotels in Milan, with a resulting total of more than 250 employees and a global turnover of more than 30 million euros.
Alipay
Created as an offshoot of Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, Alipay is the market leader in China, and controls nearly half the online payment market, with 300 million users who will now benefit when booking with Duetorrihotels. According to a survey by China IntelliConsulting Corp., 77.4% of Chinese consumers would choose Alipay for their online purchases, and 88.3% consider the booking sites that employ this system more reliable and safe.
The Chinese consumer
The adoption of Alipay is a long-term decision, in line with the profile of the Chinese tourist communicated in January during the EU–China Summit on tourism: they have spending capacity, love beauty and shopping and are guided in their decisions by social networking sites that are alternatives to Western ones, but above all by the presence of their preferred payment method and Wi-Fi. Also according to the analyses carried out by the Chinese International Travel Monitor in 2017, among the characteristics that these tourists appreciate the most in hospitality is the chosen payment system.
Angelos is the news editor for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). His role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy.
He currently studies Communication, Media & Culture in Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens.
