Travellers staying at Dusit Hotels and Resorts’ Thailand and China properties can now make payments using WeChat Pay, part of Chinese mobile messenger platform WeChat.
Under the new arrangement, guests will be able to pay their hotel bills – including restaurant, spa, transactions at participating retail outlets and room fees – by scanning a QR code that will then deduct the appropriate amount from their account.
“In China’s top-tier cities, approximately 90 per cent of stores now accept WeChat Pay as a payment method and the platform’s reach is starting to expand globally,” said Lim Boon Kwee, Dusit’s COO. “Chinese tourists are high value market and increasingly significant to our business, so it’s important we do all we can to cater to their needs. By implementing WeChat Pay, our Chinese guests will now be able to benefit from favourable exchange rates and occasional exclusive promotions, so we are confident it will be a huge success.”
More than 800 million people currently use WeChat, China’s largest mobile instant messaging app. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Chinese visitors now account for 27 per cent of all foreign travellers to Thailand.
To mark the launch, Dusit is offering a 40 per cent discount off regular room rates at its Thailand hotels for guests using WeChat Pay, until September 30, 2017. Meanwhile until April 23, users who pay for a room at a participating Dusit hotel using the platform will also receive 888RMB (US$129) paid to their account in the form of a lucky red packet.
