The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Alipay have launched a series of joint marketing initiatives aimed at increasing Singapore’s destination branding and awareness.
Spending in Singapore
The new initiatives come in the wake of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed last year, in which both parties agreed to explore co-investing in joint-marketing initiatives to encourage Chinese tourists to spend with Alipay while in Singapore.
The partnership was aimed at deepening STB’s understanding of Chinese visitors’ consumer behavior and spending patterns, by leveraging Alipay’s insights.
It emerged that Alipay has since experienced double-digit growth in user spending. Moreover, China has also become Singapore’s top market in 2017 for both tourism receipts and visitor arrivals, contributing S$4.2 billion in tourism receipts and 3.2 million visitor arrivals.
New marketing activities
The new marketing activities are designed to incentivize Alipay users, and drive tourist spending among Chinese visitors. This will be achieved through rewards and discounts offered across different types of tourism-centric businesses such as retail, food and beverages, and attractions,
“With China being Singapore’s top source market for both visitor arrivals and tourist spending last year, we are pleased to partner with Alipay as their keen insights and deep understanding of Chinese consumers will help us to continue to grow in this critical market,” said Jacqueline Ng, director of marketing partnerships and planning at STB.
“We hope to continue to broaden over time our partnership with Alipay to explore more innovative marketing initiatives in the areas of content, digital and technology to further enhance the Chinese visitor experience,” she said.
According to a recent Nielsen report, 65% of Chinese tourists used mobile payment platforms during their overseas travels, more than six times in comparison to non-Chinese tourists.
