Alipay, the online and mobile payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, and The Dubai Mall have jointly announced that Chinese mainland visitors can now use Alipay to pay for a wide range of shopping, dining and must-see leisure attractions.
With the remarkable growth and importance of Chinese tourism to Dubai, The Dubai Mall is continuing to look at ways to accommodate their needs, which includes multilingual Guest Services staff and Chinese language Mall Guides.
Chinese visitors can now look for stores across The Dubai Mall through Alipay’s in-app Discover platform, and pay for their orders in RMB via Alipay at the cashiers.
Key destinations include The Souk, which is comprised of jewellery shops, accessory outlets, traditional Arab clothing and handicraft stores; or The Village, which offers a rich collection of denim brands and brings an outdoor community feel with tree-lined walkways, cafés and restaurants; or the newly expanded Fashion Avenue, which has over 150 luxury shopping and dining experiences including flagships and new concepts.
In addition, Chinese visitors can use Alipay at all The Dubai Mall’s popular entertainment attractions including Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, the newly opened VR Park, Dubai Ice Rink and At the Top, Burj Khalifa, the world’s highest observation deck with an outdoor terrace.
The Dubai Mall is part of Downtown Dubai, Emaar Properties’ flagship mega-development.
Alipay currently has over 520 million active users in China. According to a report from Alipay and Nielsen, ease of payments is also a leading factor when it comes to key purchase decisions for Chinese tourists. 91 percent of Chinese tourists claimed they would show greater willingness to spend and shop if overseas merchants accepted Chinese mobile payments.
Statistics by The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai show that over 764,000 Chinese tourists visited Dubai in the fiscal year of 2017, with a year-on-year growth of 41 percent ranking China as the 5th largest source market of Dubai.
