China experienced surge in outbound and inbound tourism transactions during Asia's biggest week for travel

China's advanced mobile payment technologies drove a significant increase in travel-related consumer activity during the National Day holiday, breathing new life into the international tourism industry.

Alipay, China’s leading mobile payment service operated by Ant Group, reported a surge in outbound and inbound tourism transactions during the mainland’s “golden week” National Day holiday, as consumer confidence appears to rebound following Beijing’s large-scale stimulus measures introduced ahead of that annual break.

In just the first four days of the holiday, which began last Tuesday, the number of transactions made via Alipay in overseas markets surged 60% year on year, with Southeast countries like Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore topping the charts in terms of transaction numbers.

Alipay’s collaborations with local businesses to offer discount packages helped drive increased spending across sectors such as services, transport, entertainment, food and beverage, and retail. Ant Group, which operates Alipay, is the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding and the owner of news outlet South China Morning Post.

Surge in overseas visitors

Alipay, which supports international bank cards, reported a 120% year-on-year rise in spending by foreign travellers in mainland China during the first four days of the holiday, bolstered by Beijing visa-free policies that have driven inbound tourism.

According to China’s largest travel platform, Trip.com, daily bookings from countries including Italy, Malaysia, Russia, and the US have increased more than threefold year on year.

The amount of spending from foreign tourists, who can enjoy visa-free entry policies when visiting China since 2024 and pay through Alipay, soared nearly three times between Oct 1 and Oct 4 compared with the same period last year.

But this success was also possible due to the chinese merchants' friendliness towards digital payment methods. According to Alipay, the number of Chinese merchants who accepted the digital payments rose 100% in the same period last year.

In addition, consumer spending through Tap!, Alipay’s contactless tap-and-pay feature launched in July, rose by 130% compared to last month, according to Ant Group.

Meanwhile, Alipay’s newly introduced AI-powered chatbot, Zhixiaobao, assisted travellers with 20 million interactions during the holiday period.

Alipay’s Golden Week data reflects signs of recovering consumer confidence in China. Amid the weak domestic demand and ongoing deflationary pressures this year, the Chinese government introduced a slate of stimulus measures before the national holiday in an effort to spur spending and investment.

Last year, Chinese travellers made more than 5.9 million outbound trips and 826 million domestic trips during the combined Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, generating over 753 billion yuan (US$106.5 billion) in domestic tourism revenue, a 1.5% increase from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Official figures for this year’s golden week are yet to be released.

According to Chinese travel booking platform Fliggy’s National Day Holiday Travel Briefing issued on Monday, average prices for domestic and international flights and hotels during golden week fell year on year, with increasing interest in long-haul and niche destinations. Outbound travel bookings also saw substantial growth from last year.