Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said Monday it has teamed up with JR Kyushu Co. to boost Chinese tourism in the region.
The Chinese e-commerce giant is hoping to expand use of its Alipay mobile payment system in Kyushu. It said it will publicize more information on tourist spots, including hot spring resorts, and local foods through its travel service platform called Fliggy.
JR Kyushu will reach out to Chinese tourists by designing attractive tourist routes and running special sightseeing trains, Alibaba said.
Alipay, a widely accepted smartphone payment platform in China, is already usable at drug stores and some other outlets operated by a JR Kyushu group company.
To encourage Chinese to spend more while visiting, JR Kyushu plans to push other firms in the region to introduce the popular payment system.