Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand’s leading hotel operator, has signed an agreement with TreePay Co., Ltd., a specialised payment facilitator, to allow Chinese customers to use their mobile phones to pay for accommodation and services at Centara properties. This will begin with Wechat Pay.
Chinese tourists are an important market for Centara and mobile payments using apps like WeChat are extremely popular with Chinese consumers. “Our goal to double in size over the next five years will be achieved by serving growing markets better,” says Centara’s CEO Thirayuth Chirathivat.
“Our strategies include opening new properties in China as well as attracting more Chinese to our hotels in Thailand and elsewhere. One way we do this is by improving our service infrastructure. Being able to accept mobile payments is an important component.” The TreePay solution will first be introduced at Centara’s hotels and resorts in Thailand within 2018, then rolled out to the company’s other properties.
