Ant Group, the operator of Alipay+, has announced that three new mobile wallets will be accepted in Thailand enhancing the overall digital travel experience for Asian tourists.
These include AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Touch ‘n Go eWallet (Malaysia), in addition to Alipay (Chinese mainland), which has been accepted by Thai merchants since 2015.
Enabled through Alipay+, the latest development comes as Thailand experiences a rebound in the local tourism industry. Ant Group also unveiled new collaborations with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote the Amazing Thailand campaign and to stimulate travel in the country.
For local businesses, the group has agreed to provide digital solutions in areas such as digitalisation of service operations, digital marketing efficiency and customer experience enhancement.
The aim of the collaboration is to help local merchants to engage tourists more effectively throughout their journey from pre-trip to post-trip. Solutions such as the Alipay+ D-store will be made accessible to businesses so they can build digital stores that can more effectively reach and engage tourists, the company said.
Speaking on the partnership, Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of TAT said: “Building on the trust and collaboration we have had with Alipay for many years to engage tourists from the Chinese mainland, we are excited to further expand the reach through Alipay+ to tourists in three more Asian countries and regions, which are important source locations for Thailand.”
Thailand’s flag carrier Thai Airways is one of the first airlines to integrate Alipay+ as a payment method, allowing its customers to pay for flight tickets using all of the four wallets.
Dr. Cherry Huang, General Manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services at Ant Group, added: “We strongly believe that the acceptance of more Asian mobile wallets in Thailand will enhance the travel experience and further promote Thailand as an attractive and sustainable destination for travellers. Our focus now is to onboard more local merchants in sectors including travel, retail, hospitality, F&B to integrate the Alipay+ solution.”
