12 Mar 2019
Chinese visitors to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire can now use Alipay, the world's largest lifestyle and mobile payment platform.
The app will enable them to make payments in their home currency for everything from tickets to food and souvenirs and is aimed at making transaction easier and quicker for tourists to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Alipay is already available for Chinese visitors in many European countries and at close to 100 airports. Among UK retailers who accept Alipay are Harrods, Selfridges, Holland and Barrett, and Heathrow Airport.
Chinese visitors can also use WeChat Pay for transactions at Blenheim Palace. WeChat Pay is an eWallet payment method, incorporated into the WeChat app. It is one of the most popular payment methods in China, with over 600 million active users.
Blenheim Palace's Head of Marketing & PR, Stephanie Duncan, said: “Blenheim is an extremely popular destination for holidaymakers from around the world and we are seeing a big increase in visits from China.
“We were the first UK stately home to sign up for the GREAT China Charter and we are committed to continually looking at innovative ways to improve and adapt the visitor experience to truly make all our Chinese tourists feel welcome.
“Partnering with Alipay and implementing WeChat Pay are important steps in making that experience even more enjoyable and easy,” she added.
Among other initiatives already in operation at Blenheim Palace are Chinese guides, an audio guide and map on their website as well as restaurant menus in Mandarin. They also have a dedicated Chinese website.
In 2017 China moved into the UK's top 10 most valuable inbound visitor markets with visits reaching a record-breaking 337,000, up 29% on 2016, and spending up 35% to a record £694 million.
Visitors from China spent, on average, £2,059 per visit in Britain in 2017, more than three times the all market average. They also stayed longer, holidaymakers from China stayed an average of 11 nights compared to the all market average of six and travelled more widely across the UK than other visitors.
Alipay overtook PayPal as the world's largest mobile payment platform in 2013. In 2018 the total number of Alipay users exceeded 870 million.
ENDS
For more information please contact: Melodie Manners | melodie@flamingo-marketing.co.uk | 01637 873379 or 07815 709548
Notes to Editors
Blenheim Palace's dedicated Chinese Website https://cn.blenheimpalace.com/?_ga=2.214475031.1807721581.1552068042-705622004.1540150636
User information and statistics taken from http://support.worldpay.com/support/kb/gg/wechatpay/home.htm
