MANILA - Filipino businessmen are cashing in on the projected 1.5 million Chinese tourist arrivals this year by allowing them to shop with their smartphones, eliminating tedious trips to money changers.

In China, over a billion people use Tencent's WeChat Pay and Alibaba's Alipay. Transplanting such "native" apps to the Philippines will encourage Chinese visitors to spend more, said Robinsons Business Center vice president Gina Salgado.

"The take up is good," Salgado told ABS-CBN News. WeChat Pay is available initially in Robinsons Place Manila, near Chinatown and outsourcing hubs where Chinese expatriates work.

"The value to the buyer is that they don't need to look for a money changer to change renminbi to peso if they want to shop as their account is linked to WeChat Pay."

Chinese tourists on average spend P6,000 a day while in the Philippines, she said. The tourism department estimates up to 1.5 million tourist arrivals from China, and an estimated revenue of P32 billion.

WeChat Pay is available in the Philippines via Asia United Bank and the lender is planning on bringing in rival Alipay.

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The Philippines is expecting an influx of Chinese tourists after Beijing lifted a travel advisory against the country in 2016. This after President Rodrigo Duterte sought to repair ties with China that were strained by a sea dispute.

Duterte refused to flaunt Manila's victory in a United Nations-backed arbitration court, which said Beijing's claims over islands and outcrops in the South China Sea had no legal basis.

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SPENDING CENTER

Malls are among the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists in the Philippines, said Mynt CEO Antony Thomas.

Mynt, a unit of Globe Telecom, has partnered with billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Financial for the scan-to-pay platform GCash.

"The perfect opportunity is there are a million Chinese tourists, and that’s a very large number, and it’s not just the number that come in but also the spending power and their preferences," Thomas told ABS-CBN News.

"We do see those numbers increasing and that is for us a population that we can so easily serve," he said.

Thomas said GCash would establish more access points to address demand from Chinese tourists.

• GCash, Alipay target Chinese tourists with new payment scheme