Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau has partnered with Tencent Cloud Computing (Beijing) to issue vouchers totalling RMB30 million (US$4.29 million) to Chinese residents as part of efforts to stimulate spending on tourism and culture.
The first batch of vouchers, which can be used at participating tourism and culture businesses in the city, including travel agencies, hotels, homestays, B&Bs and attractions, were released on July 17.
Residents across China can enter the activity page on WeChat at 14.00 and 20.00 daily to stand the chance to obtain the vouchers, each valued at between RMB30 and RMB100. They should be registered on WeChat under their own name and have had the account with their real name authenticated.
Upon receiving the vouchers, they can use one voucher per purchase at participating businesses if the purchase value exceeds the amount stated on the voucher.
The impact of the vouchers on spending and other factors will be assessed before plans for potential follow-up initiatives are drawn, shared Chen Yongliang, deputy director, Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, at a recent press conference.
One travel supplier participating in the initiative is GZL International Travel Service. Its vice president, Wen Qian, shared at the press conference that customers can use the vouchers when purchasing any of GZL’s travel products, including group tours and pre-bookings of single travel products for FIT travel.
The company plans to publicise the vouchers and redemption guidelines across its marketing channels, and engage in relevant staff training, so the voucher distribution can achieve maximum impact, shared Wen.
As one of the first cities in China where stimulus measures for spending on culture are tested out, Guangzhou intends to provide insights on the effectiveness of driving overall consumption through stimulating tourism and culture spending, shared Chen.
– Translated by Angela Teo; this article was first published in TTG China
