Mastercard and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced the reopening of Priceless Beijing during a ceremony at the Zhengyi Temple Peking Opera House.
Priceless Beijing is an extension of Mastercard’s global Priceless platform, giving cardholders around the world access to hundreds of dynamically curated experiences in more than 30 destinations. With this relaunch, visitors to Beijing can enjoy Priceless experiences at the iconic Great Wall, Peking Opera, China’s first Michelin Green Star and Three-Michelin Star vegetarian restaurant, King’s Joy, and more.
“Connecting people to their passions, purpose and each other is Mastercard’s focus, and nothing connects cultures more powerfully than travel,” said Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer, Mastercard.
“We are excited to partner with the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau to relaunch Priceless Beijing, providing an unforgettable experience for countless future visitors to this enchanting city.”
At the ceremony, Yang Shuo, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, highlighted the measures the city has taken to boost inbound tourism.
“This includes updating our tourism portal website to enhance traveler experience and optimizing payment services across the sectors of food and beverage, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, entertainment, healthcare and education. By partnering with Mastercard to appeal to tourists’ preferences for lifestyle experiences, digital communications, self-service options and more, we look forward to further developing Beijing as a top tourist and retail destination for travellers from around the world.”
This marks the two organizations’ third cooperation agreement since 2012. According to Mastercard, the agreement reaffirms the two companies’ shared commitment to providing travelers to China with unforgettable, priceless experiences.
Priceless Beijing reopens
Global tourism is booming, with nine of the last 10 record spending days occurring this year for the global cruise and airline industries, according to Mastercard’s 2024 Travel Trends Report. The Mastercard Economics Institute expects this trend to continue as we enter the busy travel season and consumers around the world prioritize meaningful experiences like travel.
Building on this momentum, Priceless Beijing’s relaunch will tap into key passion points including cuisine, entertainment and culture. Mastercard says the goal is to showcase Beijing’s best cultural assets and tourism attractions, expand safe and reliable payment options for travelers and build connections between China and the global tourism sector.
“Capturing the essence of traditional Chinese culture, the ancient capital of Beijing is vibrant and dynamic, yet retains its charm and elegance, attracting visitors from all over the world,” said Dennis Chan, executive vice president and president, Greater China, Mastercard.
“In recent years, with the cooperation between MasterCard and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the travel environment for international tourists has improved significantly. As innovative cooperation projects such as Priceless Beijing expand, MasterCard hopes to introduce more payment facilitation measures to provide consumers with more choices for how they pay and receive, and support the recovery of the tourism industry, thereby strengthening China’s connection to the world.”
