Tencent Cloud, the cloud arm of Chinese tech giant Tencent, has partnered with Tabelog, Japan’s leading restaurant reservation platform, to launch a WeChat miniprogram to improve Chinese tourists’ dining experience in Japan, as the cloud service provider makes further forays into international markets.
The WeChat miniprogram, which officially comes into service on Wednesday, caters specifically to the needs of Chinese tourists, enabling them to make restaurant reservations in Chinese and pay bills using WeChat Pay, the popular digital payment tool in China.
Users can access the services directly via WeChat search without the hassle of using a local Japanese phone number.
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The partnership marks another milestone in Tencent Cloud’s internationalization drive, which reflects the pragmatic attitude, rich experience and professional services of Chinese technology companies in digital integration, said Hanson Liu, head of Tencent Cloud Japan.
The company will continue to broaden overseas application scenarios to help more enterprises grow based on the experience from the cooperation with Tabelog, he added.
In Japanese culture, making reservations in advance is a common occurrence, especially when dining at popular restaurants.
“As more Chinese tourists travel to Japan, they are facing numerous difficulties in making restaurant reservations locally. On the one hand, the language barrier makes it hard for them to make phone calls. On the other hand, some Japanese restaurants take a conservative attitude over providing online reservation services to Chinese tourists in fear of frequent nonfulfillment,” Taku Konoike, the head of Tabelog Company, said.
“The miniprogram is designed to address these difficulties and demands.”
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists made 14.4 million trips to Japan last year, the highest of all countries globally. Among them, 6.37 million were from the Chinese mainland, 5.55 million from Taiwan and 2.4 million from Hong Kong.
Chinese tourists spent 3.49 trillion yen ($24.87 billion) in Japan in 2024, accounting for 42.8 percent of total expenditure among foreign tourists. Chinese mainland tourists contributed 1.7 trillion yen of that figure, those from Taiwan consumed 1.09 trillion yen, while Hong Kong tourists spent 658.4 billion yen.
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The number of Japanese restaurants on Tabelog has hit 870,000, with more than 76 million reviews from diners, according to Kakaku.com, the company that operates the software.
Tencent Cloud is increasing support for Japan’s digital economy. The company said last week it will set up a third cloud region in Osaka. The first two were set up in Tokyo.
Tencent Cloud’s international business has maintained double-digit growth over the past three years, with over 10,000 overseas clients across more than 80 countries and regions. The number global partners is over 11,000.
Contact the writer at sally@chinadailyhk.com
