UnionPay International and Cape Town Tourism sign intention to partner in attracting global UnionPay cardholders

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UnionPay International and Cape Town Tourism announced their intention to partner at Cape Point, the iconic and famous destination in Cape Town.

The two parties agree to jointly enhance the payment convenience in Cape Town for UnionPay cardholders. Fujun Shao, Chairman of China UnionPay, Larry Wang, Vice President of UnionPay international and their delegation attended the signing ceremony.

Enver Duminy, Cape Town Tourism CEO says "We are thrilled to have welcomed an influx of visitors to Cape Town this year. We have seen over 1 million international arrivals to Cape Town International Airport from January to October, which is a recovery of 108% compared to 2019. And in a recent dipstick with CTT members, 90% indicated that they are anticipating better or much better business performance this 2023/2024 High Season compared to last."

Tapping on its rich tourism natural resources and leveraging the tourism reopening opportunity, Cape Town Tourism is endeavouring to build the city into one of the world's most renowned tourist destinations. To fulfil this goal, Cape Town regards China as a crucial and lucrative tourism source market. Since UnionPay card is an important payment method favoured by Chinese outbound tourists, and UnionPay International shares the common goal with Cape Town Tourism, the cooperation between the two parties becomes natural.

Duminy adds, "The Cape Town Tourism – UnionPay Partnership presents the perfect opportunity to strengthen tourism cooperation while at the same time facilitate and improve payment accessibility for UnionPay clients, and therefore a welcoming and frictionless visitor experience in Cape Town. We recognise the value of the collaborative effort and the shared objectives."

"UnionPay's acceptance footprint and service offerings in the South Africa has witnessed continuous significant improvement over the years by partnering with local institutions", said Asad Burney, Head of UnionPay Africa Region, "we believe that this partnership with Cape Town Tourism will help us better serve our customers when traveling Cape Town, providing affordable, accessible and innovative payment services to UnionPay global cardholders".

UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay, is the biggest card payments brand globally by number of transactions, with enabled card acceptance in 181 countries and regions and issuance in 79 countries and regions. With acceptance by more than 85% in South Africa, UnionPay has established its position as an international card scheme in the South Africa and the broader region since 2008.

In Africa, UnionPay is present in 50 countries, and issues locally in 15 countries, UnionPay has launched various innovative payment products in Africa in response to the worldwide digital transformation and financial inclusion.