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UnionPay International builds UnionPay Payment Demonstration Towns in Provence, France
2017-07-14


UnionPay International announced today it has signed a cooperation agreement with Officede Tourisme DLVA to make UnionPay payment an important service of the Coeur de Provence project launched by the Tourism particularly for the Chinese tourists. Based on this cooperation, the two sides will jointly promote the local merchants to accept UnionPay cards, building UnionPay Payment Demonstration Towns in the region. In the future, tourists will be able to use UnionPay cards conveniently in the South of France.

Provence is worldly known as the Hometown of Lavender, and the small towns in the region are favored by many tourists. Officede Tourisme DLVA launched the Coeur de Provence project in 2016, helping the local merchants and attractions better receive Chinese tourists by offering advices and trainings. Now, towns such as Gréoux-les-bains and Valensole have offered the official tourist maps and tourist leaflets in Chinese. Merchants at these towns have Chinese-speaking associates as well as shopping manual and menus in Chinese.

CEO of UnionPay International, Cai Jianbo, said, with more and more Chinese tourist prefer free-and-independent of in-depth travel to group travels, UnionPay International continues to enhance its service capacity for various customer groups. The building of UnionPay Payment Demonstration Towns in Provence will on the one hand expand UnionPay’s acceptance network from major cities like Paris in France to beautiful towns in the South of France, and on the other, will enable UnionPay International and Officede Tourisme DLVA to complement each other’s advantages to offer better travel and payment experiences to Chinese tourists.

After this agreement signing, all merchants with the logo of the Coeur de Provence Project will be able to accept UnionPay cards, covering hotels, stores and restaurants. The towns will offer new tourist maps and travel manuals with UnionPay card-using information to further enhance payment convenience.

According to the latest data, UnionPay is accepted at more than 2.3 million merchants across 39 European countries and regions, covering half of the bankcard-accepting merchants in Europe. In France, about 70% of ATMs accept UnionPay cards for cash withdrawal, and some ATMs are also equipped with Chinese interface. More than 140,000 merchants in France accept UnionPay cards, covering the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Place Vendôme, Charles De Gaulle Airport.

Director of Officede Tourisme DLVA, Jean-Frédéric Gonthier, said, the availability of UnionPay payment is one of services that the Chinese tourists care most. Helping merchants to accept UnionPay and thus reducing the amount of cash carried by Chinese tourists meets the needs of Chinese tourists. Meanwhile, it can significantly enhance the ability of the DLVA region to receive Chinese tourists and promote the development of the tourism industry in the region of the Coeur de Provence.

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