Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones has today announced a new marketing agreement between Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and global card Scheme UnionPay International. 

The agreement, funded as part of the Queensland Government’s Connecting With Asia program, features marketing activity promoting the state’s payment accessibility to Chinese visitors.

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said the agreement would continue the state’s work in ensuring Queensland is China payment friendly. 

“We want to position Queensland as the most payment friendly state in Australia for Chinese visitors and this agreement will help us increase awareness among visitors and tourism operators as to the availability of these facilities,” Ms Jones said.

“UnionPay has the world’s largest cardholder base with over seven billion cards issued across 52 countries and regions, so this is a significant marketing agreement.

“UnionPay cards are now accepted at over 80% of merchants in Queensland, but not all operators realise they have the capability to accept UnionPay transactions.

“The aim of this partnership is to increase awareness and take up of Queensland tourism operators to ensure they understand they can provide appropriate payment facilities for this crucial market.

“The agreement is already underway, with initial activity in Cairns and the Gold Coast, aimed at increasing awareness among Chinese visitors to ensure they are having the best possible experience during their stay in Queensland.

“China is the state’s biggest international market, with the most recent figures showing Chinese visitors spent more than $1.4 billion in Queensland in the year ending December 2018, an all-time record and a 25.4 per cent increase from 2017.”

UnionPay cards are now accepted at over 80% of merchants in Queensland, and the acceptance of UnionPay QR Code and UnionPay QuickPass (NFC) payments are continually expanding in Queensland. 

Chinese tourists can use the “UnionPay” mobile application to pay by scanning the QR Code or activate the function of UnionPay mobile QuickPass. 

To date, there are more than 140 million activated UnionPay APP users. 

UnionPay International South Pacific region General Manager James Yang said the partnership would help promote Queensland to Chinese visitors.

“This partnership offers a unique opportunity to reach high-value travellers through new targeted channels,” he said.

“We look forward to the execution of this marketing agreement, aligning with TEQ to promote its travel destination to Chinese visitors.”

TEQ has also been running a series of Chinese Payment Expos to help the tourism industry understand the Chinese payment landscape and how to make their business China ready.