Dubai: Dubai’s tourism authority announced on Tuesday a new agreement with Chinese internet giant Tencent, during a trip this week to the country.
The agreement seeks to promote Dubai as a preferred destination for Chinese travellers.
According to a statement from the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), the tie-up will result in strategies spanning the Tencent network to expand Dubai’s marketing reach and penetration within China — one of the fastest growing source markets for the emirate.
Gulf News reported exclusively on Sunday that a senior government delegation from Dubai was heading to China to sign agreements with a number of leading companies, including Tencent, in a bid to woo more Chinese tourists.
Confirming this report, Dubai Tourism said this new agreement with Tencent will promote the company’s offerings, including WeChat and WeChat Pay as options for “convenient and secure mobile payment” for Chinese tourists at local outlets.
In parallel, Dubai Tourism says it will encourage Dubai merchants to leverage the Tencent Cloud and media solutions to “enhance the overall... experience for Chinese visitors and drive spending from this significant consumer base.”
With over 980 million monthly active users on WeChat and Weixin, both Tencent products, Dubai Tourism intends to leverage the platforms to drive brand awareness of Dubai and its offerings.
The delegation is still expected to sign an agreement with Fliggy, the travel subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, Gulf News understands.
Tencent, which has a larger market capitalisation than Facebook, and Alibaba are the fifth and sixth-largest internet companies in the world.
