Crossing continents and connecting people and cultures: one seamless journey at one time

Europe’s tourism sector is the envy of the world. As the most visited continent worldwide, the region is home to some of the globe’s top cultural and heritage attractions and natural wonders. And across Europe’s 44 countries are diverse destinations with unique offerings helping to power local economic growth. With the continent’s governments focused on investment and balanced regional development, the next competitiveness frontier is frictionless travel especially for high‑value long‑haul markets such as China.

Chinese outbound travel is entering a new phase where visitors are seeking experience-led trips, multi destination itineraries and deeper cultural immersion across Europe. That shift is reflected in spending patterns: travellers are prioritizing not just retail but also transport, dining, and entertainment—an opportunity for local businesses, cultural institutions, and regional destinations beyond traditional hubs to attract visitors. Historically, payment acceptance has been a practical barrier for many Chinese visitors moving across borders—precisely the kind of friction that can dampen spend and shorten stays.

A public‑private solution built for scale

To meet these evolving needs, last month Mastercard, together with the European Travel Commission (ETC), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) launched the European Travel Co‑branded Credit Card to support seamless and secure payment experiences for Chinese travellers visiting Europe. Bringing together ICBC’s cross-border financial capabilities, ETC’s destination network, and Mastercard’s global acceptance infrastructure, the card facilitates seamless traveller spending on everything from public transport and rail to hospitality, dining, and cultural attractions.

For European economies, the benefit is twofold: first, this partnership makes it easier for inbound travellers to spend. Second, it creates a platform to guide demand across seasons and regions through targeted value propositions and co-marketing. The card’s curated benefits developed with partners including The Bicester Collection and Rail Europe engage travellers before departure and reward them throughout their trip, aligning incentives with national and regional tourism strategies.

Additionally, high value travel hinges on confidence. The new card delivers contactless, tokenized payments that are widely accepted across European markets, giving visitors an experience that feels “local,” predictable, and secure while ensuring smaller merchants participate fully in cross-border tourism. It also offers 1.5% cashback on every purchase in Europe and 1% on all other international transactions.

Transforming intent into impact at ITB Berlin
 
This week, we were proud to showcase our new partnership at ITB Berlin, a crossroads of the global travel and tourism industry, connecting public and private sector stakeholders who share the same passion for building bridges between continents and cultures and building seamless, secure and enriching journeys for travellers across the world. As we shared our vision for the program with European tourism leaders, the warm reception of the card — and its multiple designs reflecting the values and cultures of both Europe and China — is a clear reminder that long‑haul travel remains one of the strongest bridges between civilizations. It reflects our shared curiosity to discover more about one another, and our willingness to open up with humility and generosity.

Eduardo Santander, CEO of the European Travel Commission, emphasised that Europe must be ready — and easy to access — as Chinese outbound travel resumes. To ensure travellers return with confidence, he stressed that we must work together to make every stage of the journey simpler and more seamless, from planning and payments to border crossings.

Santander advocated that achieving this will require strong public–private partnerships, which are essential to maintaining Europe’s tourism competitiveness. Through close collaboration, we can enable smoother travel experiences while fostering more responsible, higher‑value tourism across the continent.

With decades of investment in global acceptance and travel infrastructure, enabling payments in 200+ countries and territories, Mastercard helps convert visitor intent into measurable economic impact across destinations. By integrating insights, secure digital payments, and partner networks, we enable European destinations to reach high value segments with precision while reducing drop off at every step from trip planning and booking to urban mobility and enriching cultural experiences.

With Europe top of mind for travellers around the world, the opportunity now is to remove remaining frictions and double down on high value segments that stay longer, travel further, and spend more locally. Together, we can integrate destination offers, transit access, and immersive moments into a seamless payments journey and establish the Europe–China corridor as a model of human centred, secure, and sustainable tourism growth, one that strengthens communities and competitiveness across the continent. In doing so, we are building bridges between Europe and China, with great optimism for the journeys ahead.