“At the same time, we cannot be complacent. Just doing what we’ve been doing, delivering the product and experiences we have been delivering, will not be enough. Investment and infrastructure are key. More hotel rooms, better airport facilities and more seamless transport options for tourists have to be delivered.


“We also need a more focussed China-friendly approach. It is now our biggest source market for inbound visitation. Te Chinese are also, by far, the biggest spenders in the tourism space. To ignore that will mean not fully leveraging the opportunity at hand.”


Mr Bekier said the new “Millions of Stars” brand continued the work Te Star has undertaken to driveits appeal to Chinese tourists. Te company recently installed terminals that accept Wechat Pay and Alipay alongside China UnionPay, to make it easier for Chinese visitors to complete transactions at Te Star Sydney property.


Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan welcomed Te Star’s approach. “China is Australia’s


largest and most lucrative overseas market and critical to our industry’s continued future success,” commented Mr. O’Sullivan. “With so many international destinations competing aggressively for share of travel wallet, it’s critical that our industry continues to adapt to the changing needs of today’s increasingly savvy and sophisticated Chinese traveller.


“It’s great to see operators like Te Star Entertainment Group prioritising what is already a near $11bn market with a clear China strategy that combines investment in their China brand, new infrastructure and tailored services such WeChat Pay payment systems.”


WeChat Pay is a payment solution integrated inside the social and messaging WeChat app owned by Tencent. Alipay is a mobile and online payment platform established by the Alibaba Group.


WeChat has more than 1 billion monthly active users. Alibaba, a conglomerate specialising in ecommerce, retail, internet, artificial intelligence and technology, was the second Chinese company behind Tencent to achieve a market cap of $500bn.


“China is Australia’s largest and most lucrative overseas market and critical to our industry’s continued future success. With so many international destinations


competing aggressively for share of travel wallet, it’s critical that our industry


continues to adapt to the changing needs of today’s increasingly savvy and sophisticated Chinese traveller.”


John O’Sullivan,


Managing Director, Tourism Australia


NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P37


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92