LAS VEGAS—Caesars Entertainment and Fliggy, Alibaba Group’s travel service platform, announced a strategic partnership to give Chinese travelers access to Caesars’ Las Vegas resorts with its new virtual flagship store on Fliggy.
Through the Fliggy flagship store, Chinese travelers will be able to book 10 hotels in Las Vegas, including Caesars Palace, Flamingo Las Vegas, The LINQ Hotel + Experience, Harrah’s Las Vegas, The Cromwell, Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood Resort, Bally’s Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas, and Rio All-Suite Hotel. With this partnership, more than 700 million consumers across Alibaba’s platforms will have access to Caesars’ 23,000 guestrooms and suites.
This partnership follows Caesars’ existing relationship with digital payment platform Alipay, which is operated by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group. Since December 2017, Caesars has enabled Alipay mobile payments for Chinese travelers across 150 locations, including its restaurants, retail stores, and attractions. With the new flagship store on Fliggy, Caesars is leveraging Alibaba’s digital economy to serve Chinese visitors throughout every step of their travels.
Caesars’ flagship store enables booking all the way to payment and itinerary management. Chinese travelers can use Alipay and Fliggy to plan their itinerary with a points-of-interest map and search for nearby shopping discounts. Geo-location-based “Discover” functions within the Alipay app help users find nearby merchants and receive promotional information. Users will also be able to receive after-sales care and follow-up promotional information from merchants after their trip ends.
By 2022, tourist arrivals from China to the United States is forecast by the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office to reach 4.5 million visits annually, and Las Vegas is one of the most popular U.S. destinations among Chinese tourists.
“Caesars Entertainment is committed to meeting the needs of the Chinese traveler, and Alibaba has been an important platform in our effort to welcome more Chinese visitors to our resorts,” said Annette Weishaar, senior vice president of partnerships and channel marketing at Caesars Entertainment. “We are incredibly excited about our growing partnership with Alibaba and its Fliggy travel marketplace.”
“We are excited to partner with Caesars Entertainment to continue offering access to the most memorable travel destinations around the world,” said Frank Huang, Fliggy’s head of international hotel business. “With our unparalleled consumer insights and leading-edge technology, we will work with Caesars to attract more Chinese travelers to its incredible properties and services. We are looking forward to creating new, more personalized travel experiences as our consumers seek new adventures.”
