WeChat Tapping Hospitality Niche In Digital Push

While paying for meals and ordering taxis via WeChat is old news in China, the all-in-one app is now elbowing its way into an asset-intensive industry: hospitality.

Tencent's iconic messaging app signed a strategic partnership on Tuesday with InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, the world's first underground hotel built out of a decommissioned quarry, in its latest bid to make hotel-staying a more intelligent experience.

The tie-up allows customers to book rooms, pre-check-in, order room service and conduct payment in real time, with a few taps on the smart phone, through certain WeChat functionalities.

The addition of Tencent's face recognition capability developed by its YouTu Lab to enable identity authentication is the real game changer, earmarking the tech giant's most holistic smart hotel solution since its debut in 2014, said Bai Zhenjie, operations director of WeChat Pay.

The pre-check-in feature can effectively circumvent the long queues usually spotted at hotel receptions, by designating rooms prior to a customer's arrival, and predict potential peak hours based on registration records, Bai noted.

Guests need to place their ID cards on a dedicated machine and have their faces scanned for identity verification. Bai estimated check-in time can be reduced from three to five minutes to around 30 seconds.