ESTONIA. Leading ferry company and travel retailer Tallink has introduced Alipay onboard its Megastar and Star ships on the Tallinn-Helsinki route from this month. It said the main target group was Chinese consumers. Tallink is the first company in Estonia to use the mobile payments solution.
“The implementation of Alipay is another step by Tallink towards providing the best travel experience for the ever-growing number of Asian tourists on our ships,” said Tallink Group Chief Executive Officer Paavo Nõgene. “Chinese tourists often make their travel decisions depending on whether they can use the Alipay e-wallet in the country of destination, so it is obvious that we should be offering this payment option.”
After launching on board Megastar and Star on 1 July, Alipay will be rolled out to the group’s other passenger ships by the end of the summer.
Asian tourists are the fourth largest passenger group on Tallink’s ships; the company has carried over 250,000 Asian travellers so far in 2018. On the Tallinn-Helsinki route their numbers climbed by 45,000 in the first six months compared to the same period in 2017.
“The Asian market is becoming increasingly important for Tallink and customers from that part of the world have appreciated our efforts to make them feel at home here. The steady increase in the number of Asian passengers on our ships over the years and various Chinese tourism awards we have received, are clear evidence of that,” Nõgene added.
In May this year, Tallink received the prestigious Global Gold Prize in the CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Awards in the Best Product Innovation category at Asia’s largest tourism fair in Shanghai. In 2016, Tallink received the Bronze level award at the CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Awards in the overall performance category.
