Alibaba, JR Kyushu Tie Up on Tourism Promotion

July 24, 2018

Fukuoka- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Kyushu Railway Co. <9142>, or JR Kyushu, said Monday that they have agreed to form an alliance to increase the number of Chinese visitors to the Kyushu southwestern Japan region.

Under the alliance, Alibaba and JR Kyushu aim to have one million Chinese people visit the region in fiscal 2023.

They plan to provide information about model travel routes in Kyushu through Alibaba's Fliggy travel site, used by over 10 million people per day.

They will also work together to increase the number of stores in Kyushu that accept payment by Alibaba's Alipay electronic settlement service, used by 600 million people per month in China.

Specifically, JR Kyushu will encourage group companies and businesses in Kyushu to introduce Alipay.

"We want to increase the number of Alipay member stores to hundreds of thousands," Alibaba.com Japan Co. President Makoto Koyama told a press conference.

JR Kyushu Chairman Koji Karaike said that economic effects of 200 billion yen would be generated if one million people from China visit Kyushu. Jiji Press