Singaporean incorporated digital payments solution platform, Alipay+, is open to work with Sri Lankan tourism authorities to boost tourism to the island by targeting the South East Asian region and tourism source markets, Alipay+ Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand General Manager Edward Yue told The Daily Morning Business.
“We always take an open collaborative approach and work with local partners to support the travel ecosystem. In our past and ongoing efforts working with local regulators and tourism boards, we have seen very positive results,” Yue said, speaking at the launch of Alipay+ in Sri Lanka, in partnership with Lankapay on Tuesday (25).
The partnership’s aim is to elevate inbound and outbound travel experiences within the island, as users are enabled to make payments at over 400,000 LankaQR merchants within Sri Lanka.
The partnership is to also enable Sri Lankans who use the LankaQR-enabled apps to pay at Alipay+ merchants when traveling overseas.
In 2024, the cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation technology solutions platform collaborated with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to create a customisable in-app programme that features essential travel and cultural information, local merchant recommendations and city guides for Thai destinations.
“We started with offering seamless payments, and going beyond with in-app marketing and new travel innovations, which is creating new forms of engagement between tourism boards, merchants and travellers.”
The collaboration was opportune to strengthen Thailand’s digital offerings catered to Chinese tourists, its biggest tourism source market. For Sri Lanka, Chinese tourists consistently rank among the top five main source markets for tourism.
Chinese tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka doubled during the Chinese Lunar New Year period this year, with 19,809 arrivals, statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) shows.
Sri Lanka as a destination has been platformed on Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, to offer customised tour packages.
Yue noted that tourism has become a significant driver of the global economy, and especially in destinations like Sri Lanka, that will benefit from new traveller preferences for more unique, localised, sustainable holidays.
“But for local businesses to benefit from this growth, they need to adapt to new traveller habits. Since the pandemic, mobile wallets have become the preferred choice of payment method, particularly for consumers from Asia,” he said.
“By connecting 14 international payment partners to Sri Lanka, we build on the national LankaQR infrastructure by LankaPay to enhance the travel experience for these users. Now, they can visit local shops, food stores, attractions and much more, and pay just like they would at home,” he explained.
“In doing so, we can provide growth opportunities for local merchants, who may miss out if they don’t offer solutions that travellers are used to.”