Guests attend the memorandums of understanding signing ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand, April 19, 2018. Alibaba is working with Thailand to upgrade and tailor high quality global travel services, said China's e-commerce giant founder Jack Ma on Thursday at the signing ceremony of four memorandums of understanding to promote activities including tourism, digital economy and human resources development. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)
BANGKOK, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Alibaba is working with Thailand to upgrade and tailor high quality global travel services, said China's e-commerce giant founder Jack Ma on Thursday.
Ma was speaking at the signing ceremony of four memorandums of understanding to promote activities including tourism, digital economy and human resources development.
The expansion of cooperation between Thailand's tourism body and Alibaba's online travel business together with Fliggy, one of China's leading online travel service providers, is part of the deal.
As an official strategic Partner of the Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT), Fliggy team up with TAT to offer smart technological experiences at various facilities and tourist attractions across Thailand for the convenience of visitors.
The services range from online tour guides to electronic ticketing systems. Both sides will join forces in shining the spotlight on Thailand's best hidden destinations that are off the beaten track for Chinese visitors.
In addition, Fliggy and Ant Financial, Alibaba's affiliate and operator of Alipay, are discussing with related government agencies to drive the digital transformation of Thai tourism starting from pre-departure visa and visa-on-arrival application as well as payment to post-travel digital service with tourist tax refund via Alipay system.
Ma said the collaboration will be a "triple win" that will not only benefit Alibaba, but also help attract more Chinese travelers to Thailand and increase Thailand's tourism income.
Alibaba is rolling out its plan in Thailand amid growing competition from rivals.
Thailand's Kasikorn bank Pcl said in 2016 it has formed an alliance with popular mobile messaging app WeChat of Tencent Holdings, one of China's leading providers of Internet service, to provide electronic payment services to Chinese visitors in Thailand.
China remains the biggest contributor in terms of both arrivals and tourism revenue to Thailand. Chinese accounted for nearly one-third of last year's record 35 million arrivals which is expected to rise this year to around 10 million from 9.8 million.