Mobile Payments, Chinese Tourists, and Host Residents: Are Destination Stakeholders Prepared to Facilitate Mobile Payments?

Abstract

Mobile payment has become ubiquitous worldwide. It is a form of digital payment activity performed on-site from a mobile device (i.e. smartphone) for the purchase of goods and services using QR or NFC (contactless and proximity card) technology. This study examines destination stakeholders’ level of engagement and involvement in facilitating mobile payments (e.g., AliPay and WeChat Pay) for Chinese tourists. Sabah (Malaysian-Borneo), a popular island destination in Southeast Asia, was selected as the study site. Using a qualitative approach, 25 tourism and hospitality industry practitioners participated in a semi-structured, in-depth interview between February to July 2020. Preliminary results revealed that industry practitioners had been actively seeking to implement mobile payment facilities since late-2017, specifically in the retail sector, as they felt the pressure in accommodating the needs of Chinese tourists. This study offers insights into how industry practitioners address local consumers’ shift in payment usage-behaviours; from traditional forms of payments (e.g., cash and credit card) to mobile payments in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

East Asia and East Africa: Different Ways to Digitalize Payments

“…The improvements that have been made to their services have reduced the need for a transition to a technologically more advanced solution and limited the development for existing functionalities, such as generalizing the contactless payment in recent years. Since more and more travellers prefer using m-payment for travelrelated services, especially Asian travellers, and since service providers could implement mobile payment options to attract and better serve travellers, it is a good opportunity for the tourism industry to be a pioneer in leading economic growth through mobile payment (World Travel & Tourism council, 2019;Tangit and Law, 2021;Wu et al 2021). Policymakers and regulators could encourage the implementation of m-payment to maximize the opportunities that mobile payment systems can bring to an economy.…”