Alipay launched payment solutions to cater to Sentosa's Chinese tourists

The new cashless initiative is a joint collaboration between Alipay, Sentosa and the Singapore Tourism Board.

Online payment platform Alipay is catering to Sentosa’s Chinese tourists with the launch of its payment solutions across 70% of the island’s merchants, an announcement revealed.

The move is part of its joint effort with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) to enhance guest experiences and enable seamless access to the tourist hot-spot’s attractions, food and beverage (F&B), and retail outlets for Chinese visitors.

“The Alipay payment service which is popular amongst Chinese users is entering Sentosa at a time when China is growing in importance as a key source market for Singapore,” the parties said in a joint statement, highlighting how Chinese nationals made up 1.7 million of Singapore’s visitor arrivals and $2b of tourism receipts in 2018.

Also read: Business travel startup Travelstop launches in seven Asian markets

In conjunction with Alipay’s launch, the three parties will run a market campaign dubbed ‘Smart Sentosa’ until March 2019 to raise awareness of the initiative. The campaign is said to comprise of timely promotions based on key travel periods such as the Lunar New Year, on top of exclusive rates for Sentosa Islander membership.

Singapore was ranked as one of the most popular destinations outside of mainland China for Chinese tourists to visit, according to a Nielsen report. Specifically, Sentosa is considered as a favourite attraction for Chinese visitors and business delegates who travel to the Lion City, the announcement highlighted.

“With 19 million locals and tourists visiting Sentosa annually, technology is a key enabler in our efforts to create seamless experiences for today’s digitally savvy and connected guests,” SDC’s chief marketing officer Lynette Ang said in a statement. “Through these efforts, we look forward to welcoming even more guests to Sentosa’s unique leisure experiences.”

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia