U Mobile and WeChat to draw Chinese tourists with personalised digital travel experience

U Mobile has tied up with WeChat to launch two mini programmes within the WeChat ecosystem - Pavilion KL Mini Programme and WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Programme. The two programmes enable a digital travel experience in Malaysia that is curated based on the lifestyle preferences and needs of visitors from mainland China. Tourists from mainland China can also pay for services found in the mini programmes using their home currency, Renminbi (RMB), via the payment function found in the WeChat ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Programme will also serve as a key platform to attract inbound visitors from mainland China through a partnership with Tourism Malaysia for Visit Malaysia 2020. The partnership will see Tourism Malaysia promote the Mini Programme to visitors from mainland China as part of its wider Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign. It will also encourage more Malaysian merchants to be part of the Mini Programme so that they will be able to target these visitors. As for WeChat, Tourism Malaysia will also actively promote and raise awareness through their ecosystem to connect would-be visitors from mainland China to the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program in mainland China.

The WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Programme aims to be a complete travel companion for visitors from mainland China, as they are able to search for information on Malaysian attractions, food, culture and shopping venues via an interactive Chinese guide within the Mini Programme. Apart from that, they can make payments in RMB for the services provided by the partners, including KLIA Express, POS Malaysia, Trip Carte, and CatchThatBus.

The Pavilion KL Mini Programme aims to enhance the dining and shopping experience of visitors from mainland China who are visiting Pavilion KL shopping mall. To ensure communication between these visitors and Pavilion KL store merchants is smooth, the Pavilion KL Mini Program is available in two languages – Chinese and English. Among the list of benefits include tourists making reservations, orders and paying for their meals via the programme at over 30 participating F&B merchants. These include DOME, The Loaf, Laduree and Kakiyuki.

Additionally, tourists from mainland China will also be able to order and pay for their choice of merchandise at retail and fashion stories, and collect their purchases from the stores when they are ready. The Mercato Supermarket at Pavilion KL, for example, also has its own mini programme within the Pavilion KL Mini Program. The Mercato Mini Program enables visitors from mainland China to purchase popular local products such as instant coffee and durian chocolates and collect them from Mercato Supermarket at Pavilion KL at their convenience.

Wong Heang Tuck (pictured centre), CEO of U Mobile, said the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Programme will become an essential interactive guide for visitors from mainland China for all things Malaysia, whilst the Pavilion KL Mini Programme will enhance the dining and shopping experience of these visitors in the mall. He added that the benefits are not just for visitors from mainland China.

“U Mobile believes that the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Programme, as well as, Pavilion KL Mini Programme will be excellent avenues for Malaysian merchants and businesses to reach and engage with visitors from mainland China," Wong said.

Joyce Yap (pictured left), CEO - retail of Pavilion KL, said it is excited to leverage on this new platform to reach potential shoppers in mainland China. "With a third of our shoppers comprising international tourists, we are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ways to engage visitors with enhanced, tourist-friendly offerings. We look forward to providing visitors with seamless and enjoyable experiences at Pavilion KL, especially with ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ just around the corner," she added.

Meanwhile, Ma Feng Ming (pictured right), head of WeChat global marketing, said Malaysia has always been one of the favourite travel destinations amongst visitors from mainland China for its sunny weather, warm hospitality, delicious local food and many more.

"Partnering with Tourism Malaysia and U Mobile, we can now better serve our WeChat users by introducing more products, services and promotions to them via WeChat Mini Programs. With this collaboration, we also aim to encourage more Malaysian merchants to join and benefit from the WeChat ecosystem to engage the visitors from mainland China," Ma added.