A new “people-centric” system developed by Tencent Cloud and Japan Airlines (JAL) aims to provide seamless travel options for inbound Chinese tourists. The partnership comes amidst industry expectations for Japan’s eventual rebound in tourism demand.
Named the JAL Weixin Mini Program, it consolidates the functions of ticket sales and reservation, payment, flight information search and promotional activities to maximise the travel experience.
Tencent Cloud provides the airline with a strong leverage in terms of its cloud technology and network, while Weixin enhances traveller reach with its more than 1.2 billion monthly active users in China — both of which enables JAL to effectively penetrate the Chinese market.
By using the system, Chinese tourists and those who currently reside in Japan are able to reserve and purchase flight tickets as well as search flight information directly on Weixin.
Pre-pandemic inbound Chinese tourists to Japan had reached a record high of 9.59 million. But Japan is historically a favourite destination for the Chinese market, and the industry remains confident in the future upsurge in travel demand.