Madrid, Spain and Hangzhou, China, July 29, 2014 – Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry and Alipay, China's leading online payment service provider, today announced a strategic collaboration to integrate Alipay into the Amadeus Payment Platform (APP). This collaboration will make it easier for Amadeus'travel providers to serve Chinese travelers by offering them the option to pay with Alipay’s online payment system, trusted by millions of registered Chinese customers. Amadeus’ travel providers will therefore be able to take advantage of the world’s largest tourism market.
“With this collaboration we add a key payment provider to our platform to satisfy our customers’ payment needs,” commented Celia Pereiro, Head of Amadeus Travel Payments. “Our travel-payment expertise, combined with Alipay’s market penetration and the ease of using Alipay’s products, will provide our customers with the right solution to meet Chinese payment demands.”
China set a record in 2012 as the world’s top-spending tourism market with a total expenditure of $102 billion. In 2013, 100 million Chinese tourists made outbound trips, and industry experts estimate this figure to reach 200 million by 2020. Chinese tourism spending is expected to triple in the same period.China is also set to become the world’s biggest domestic travel market by 2017.
“Alipay is delighted to be able to support Chinese consumers as they travel more widely and in greater numbersthan ever before,” said Jingming Li, group vice president and Head of Alipay U.S and Europe. “This new collaboration combines the advanced technology and wide reach of two trusted leaders, Amadeus and Alipay, to give Alipay users more choice and convenience overseas.”
