Alipay+ can provide cross-border tourists with a range of convenient features to further enhance their travel experiences. Visitors can easily make payments using their familiar home payment methods at various merchants, including restaurants, retailers, hotels, and tourist attractions, eliminating the need for cash transactions.
BEIJING, CHINA – Saudi Tourism Authority and Ant Group have signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to explore introducing Alipay+, a suite of unified global mobile payment and marketing solutions, to Saudi Arabia, aiming to provide a seamless mobile payment experience for Asian tourists in Saudi and beyond and to further expand Alipay+’s global coverage.
The Middle East leads the world in terms of tourism rebound. Between January and July 2023, tourist arrivals in the region were 20% above the pre-pandemic levels, according to a UN World Tourism Organization report. Globally, cross-border travel is also on rise. About 700 million tourists travelled internationally between January and July 2023, the report says.
Choon Yang Quek, Chief Technology Officer at Saudi Tourism Authority’s (STA), said: “We are excited to work with Ant Group to explore introducing their industry-leading technology to Saudi. With the addition of Alipay+, visitors to Saudi will have a more seamless and integrated payment experience by using their familiar home payment methods while exploring new places. This initiative will help boost the growth of the tourism sector in Saudi, as well as foster closer ties between the people from Saudi Arabia and China.”
Alhasan Aldabbagh, President of APAC Markets at Saudi Tourism Authority (STA), said: “We are thrilled to partner with Ant Group, a global leader in digital payment and technology, to explore bringing Alipay+ to Saudi Arabia. This is great news for our tourism industry, as it will provide more convenience, familiarity, and security for Chinese travelers and other Asian tourists who prefer to use mobile payment methods. We believe this collaboration will enhance the attractiveness of Saudi Arabia as a destination for international visitors and contribute to our vision of becoming a leading global tourism hub.”
Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ aims to enable local businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods and reach more than 1.4 billion regional and global consumers, through one-time integration and simple technical adaption. Alipay+ is now accepted in over 50 markets outside China across Asia, Europe as well as the Middle East.
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President and Head of Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services, Ant Group, said: “We are delighted to join hands with Saudi Tourism Authority to bring Alipay+ to a new market and support international tourism to Saudi Arabia. We firmly believe our collaboration will not only bring more enjoyable travel experience for tourists but also connect Saudi businesses to a greater number of travelers from across the world.”
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