EUROPE. Premier Tax Free has partnered with online travel agency Ctrip to offer Chinese travellers a new mobile tax free solution.
The solution, which will be available later this year on mobile devices, features a more convenient tax refund service and will reward users with a tax refund bonus if they choose to pay their refund into a Ctrip wallet. The partners said it would ensure that Chinese shoppers have a “seamless and enhanced shopping experience” with Premier Tax Free merchants, and the mobile pass offers auto-completion of tax free forms at the point of sale.
Using the Ctrip app, customers can register and then locate the merchants where they can shop tax free.
According to Premier Tax Free’s latest estimates, the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Europe in 2017 will increase by +26% compared to 2016, with even higher growth during the Golden Week holiday period at the beginning of October.
“We are excited to be jointly investing with Ctrip to develop an integrated fintech solution ahead of a pan-European rollout,” said Premier Tax Free CEO Patrick Waldron. “It will improve the tax free shopping experience for customers while also supporting our retail partners in driving greater revenues from international shoppers. As the leading online travel agency in China, Ctrip is an innovative and successful brand that connects us and our retail customers with some of the most influential shoppers in the world.”
