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Rail Europe launches WeChat Mini Program for Chinese travellers visiting Europe
Beijing, 12 September 2024 – Rail Europe is launching its WeChat Mini Program, designed to make European train travel more accessible for Chinese travellers. The new platform, fully integrated into the WeChat app, was introduced today at a media luncheon in Beijing, highlighting Rail Europe’s expansion into China’s digital mobile landscape.
With over 1.4 billion population, China presents a unique market characterised by high smartphone usage, booming mobile e-commerce, and widespread adoption of mobile payments. Rail Europe’s WeChat Mini Program, available entirely in Chinese language, meets this demand by offering a familiar and user-friendly booking experience tailored to the needs of Chinese travellers.
“The launch of our WeChat Mini Program demonstrates our confidence in the Chinese market and reinforces our commitment to making train travel accessible to all. By removing technical, currency, and language barriers, we are simplifying European train travel for our Chinese customers,” said Björn Bender, CEO of Rail Europe.
The WeChat Mini Program is a B2C mobile booking platform in Chinese, offering both point-to-point European train tickets and rail passes. It provides real-time train schedules and pricing, supports payments in RMB via WeChat Pay, and delivers instant, paperless tickets directly to users’ mobile devices. Localised customer service in Chinese ensures a smooth experience from booking to travel.
“Our goal is to offer a booking experience that feels native and intuitive for Chinese travellers. By providing a platform in our own language, with familiar payment options and local customer support, we are delivering a truly localised and sustainable travel solution,” adds Yu Tian, General Manager, Greater China at Rail Europe.
The platform features key partners such as Eurail, Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Renfe, offering a variety of options for exploring Europe by train. Rail Europe is also collaborating with Switzerland Tourism and Swiss Travel System on a WeChat campaign, featuring prizes like mountain excursion tickets (Jungfrau - Top of Europe and Mt. Pilatus) and cruise experiences (BLS Lake Cruise and Lake Lucerne Navigation SVG). McArthurGlen Designer Outlets has joined the campaign, offering shopping and meal vouchers, as well as discounted shuttle bus transfers.
Looking ahead, Rail Europe will expand its presence with more offers and mobile payment benefits in late September and is launching an official account on RED (Xiaohongshu), a popular social media platform in China, to provide additional travel content, product news, and interactive engagement.
About Rail Europe
Rail Europe is the global reference brand for European train booking. We have been the trusted partner of the travel industry and train operators for 90 years. Our rail expert teams provide technology solutions and customer care services to +25,000 partners in more than 70 countries. International travellers who want to travel by train easily throughout Europe can also book their travel directly through our state-of-the-art train booking website and app. Our catalogue of products focuses on 200 rail providers such as SNCF, SBB, Eurostar, Trenitalia, Italo, DB, Renfe, ÖBB, SNCB, NS, OUIGO Spain and National Rail, and rail passes including the Swiss Travel Pass and Eurail Passes. We sell around 5 million European train tickets every year. Our offices are around the globe and we are headquartered in Paris.
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