Leading global payment brand UnionPay and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) today announced the deepening of their collaboration to market Thailand as a tourist destination to travelers from China ahead of the upcoming Golden Week holiday in China from 1 to 7 October. The extended partnership will see UnionPay working more closely with TAT to encourage spending by Chinese tourists through UnionPay app, as UnionPay continues to enhance the cashless payment infrastructure in Thailand and grow the number of acceptance points for UnionPay contactless and QR Code payment across the country.
According to the 2018 Chinese Outbound Travel Report by China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, China is the world's biggest outbound travel market with 150 million outbound trips made in 2018. In terms of the top destination countries visited by Chinese travelers, Thailand topped the list, followed by Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia; while Bangkok leads as the top destination city for Chinese travelers in 2018. Buoyed by the recent growth in Chinese tourist arrivals to Thailand in the month of August, TAT is confident that total tourist arrivals will hit its 40 million target by the end of 2019, registering an increase of 4.4 percent from 38.3 million tourist arrivals in 2018.
To further boost spending by Chinese travelers in conjunction with the upcoming Golden Week holiday from 1 to 7 October, UnionPay Cardholders from Mainland China can enjoy special privileges at over 100 merchants in Thailand, and up to 20% cashback for overseas spending on cards issued by selected participating banks, as well as cash rewards when they make payment with the UnionPay Mobile QuickPass app at over 5,000 participating merchants overseas.
"UnionPay and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are delighted to be deepening our partnership to boost Thailand's travel and tourism industry for the long term. With Chinese travelers being the top inbound tourist market for Thailand, we believe that UnionPay and TAT can leverage our collective strengths to grow tourist arrivals and tourist spending by enabling greater convenience and ease of payments for Chinese travelers. As we continue to catalyze the move towards a cashless society in Thailand, we are also making every effort to boost the number of cashless payment acceptance points in key cities across the country, with a focus on making QR Code for payments available nationwide," said Wenhui Yang, General Manager, UnionPay International Southeast Asia.
"With China as the top source of tourist arrivals to Thailand, we are pleased to be expanding our partnership with leading payment brand, UnionPay, to boost tourist spending in the country. With over 190,000 Chinese visitors expected to visit Thailand during the Golden Week holiday, we hope that these special privileges, cashback and rewards by UnionPay will encourage more spending in the country, as we continue to enhance our travel and tourism offerings across key cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and beyond, to enable richer and more enjoyable travel experiences for visitors," Mr. Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, Deputy Governor for International Marketing Asia and South Pacific said.
Today, UnionPay Cards are accepted across popular hotels, entertainment, retail and dining outlets in Thailand, and at over 30,000 UnionPay QR Code terminals. With UnionPay being the preferred cashless mode of payment for Chinese travelers overseas, UnionPay aims to expand the QR acceptance network to more key merchants across Thailand this year, including food and beverages merchants under The Mall Group, Tesco Lotus and Starbucks.
Bangkok Bank is UnionPay's key QR code payment acquirer in Thailand. Merchants will be able to accept payment by Bangkok Bank's BeWallet application, UnionPay application and other applications that supports UnionPay QR code payment including NETSPay and Sacombank wallet.
"The use of QR code for payment is gaining momentum in Thailand, and all across Asia. QR code payment is a low cost and quick to deploy E-payment solution that will help Thailand advance into a cashless society. We will continue to roll out more QR Code acceptance points at a wider range of merchants to bring about more convenience for shoppers, said Shoke Na Ranong, Executive Vice President, Bangkok Bank.
In Thailand, UnionPay partners Bangkok Bank, Bank of China, ICBC Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Kiatnakin Bank, Krungthai Bank, Krungthai Card and LH Bank to provide a wide array of payment products and services. Most recently, UnionPay partnered with Bangkok Bank and Krungthai Bank for the implementation of cross-border QR Code payment in Thailand. Currently, BBL's BeWallet and Krungthai NEXT application support UnionPay QR code payment.for Thai customers.
About UnionPay International
UnionPay International (UPI) focuses on the international business of UnionPay, a global payment network that serves the world's largest Cardholder base. With over 7.5 billion UnionPay cards issued in 58 countries and regions, over 55 million merchants and 2.9 million ATMs accepting our cards in 176 countries and regions, UnionPay is currently one of the fastest-growing payment networks in the world.
As a company with a global acceptance network and a wide range of world-class payment services, UnionPay is committed to providing access to value and secure payment solutions that are tailored to the needs of the local market, to enable choice and ease of payment for consumers and businesses alike.
In Southeast Asia, UPI has enabled ATM, POS acceptance and card issuance across all 10 countries. In Thailand, UPI partners Bangkok Bank, Bank of China, ICBC Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Kiatnakin Bank, Krungthai Bank and LH Bank to provide a wide array of payment products and services. For more information, visit www.unionpayintl.com.
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