Uber targets Chinese tourists with Wechat mini-app as Macau market returns

Uber is seeing strong user uptake from Chinese tourists through its WeChat mini-app, with activity particularly strong during the recent Lunar New Year travel period, according to the company.

In a CNBC interview Friday, Uber Regional general manager for Mobility in APAC Dominic Taylor said the strategy is helping fill a key gap amid Asia’s tourism rebound, as travelers increasingly expect seamless ride-hailing services when arriving in foreign cities.

Taylor said the company sees growing demand from tourists traveling within Asia and from overseas markets who want familiar mobility options upon arrival.

He added that Macau represented a missing piece in Uber’s regional portfolio, prompting the launch of products designed to help travelers move between Hong Kong and Macau and navigate Macau’s local transport network.

“What we’re seeing right across the Asian markets that I cover is that tourists are coming to Asia from within Asia and overseas, and they want to have the experience that they expect when they get off the plane or the cruise terminal, and that is Uber to move around our cities. Macau was a big gap in our portfolio as it stood, and so we launched a new product there to help people move from Hong Kong to Macau and vice versa, but also to help people get around Macau,” Taylor said.

“We’re seeing really strong take-up, and the most recent couple of weeks of Lunar New Year have been some of our strongest ever for Chinese tourists,” Taylor added, noting that the factor boosting uptake among Chinese tourists is Uber’s WeChat mini-app.

Launched in July 2025, it lets mainland Chinese users search “Uber” within the platform to book and pay for rides in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Australia. It offers a Mandarin interface and WeChat Pay support for hassle-free overseas travel, bypassing the need to download a separate app.

However, a Times investigation found that the Uber WeChat mini-app lists Macau as an “unsupported market,” highlighting only neighboring Hong Kong as an available destination on the mini-app feature.

On early feedback, Taylor noted, “The early couple of weeks are really positive with how it’s going.”

“We’ve got hundreds of drivers [in Macau] that have signed up. Nearly 20% of the industry is already completing trips on Uber, and really, we’re looking to grow that quite aggressively over the next couple of weeks and months.”

In Macau, Uber offers metered taxi rides under the “Uber Taxi” model and cross-border limousine transfers, bookable 24 hours ahead with upfront payment of around HKD3,500 one way, according to reports and customer accounts cited by the Times.

That rate is more than double the price charged by travel agencies for similar trips between Macau and Hong Kong, marking a considerable premium for essentially the same service.

Acknowledging pricing concerns, Taylor said, “We’ll continue to work on price always. It’s the first few weeks. We’re learning about the markets.”

CNBC asked Taylor about potential routes such as Hong Kong–Shenzhen and Hong Kong–Zhuhai. However, Taylor avoided giving specifics, instead noting, “Over the last couple of years, we’ve spent more time in China talking to Chinese partners, and what we’ve been learning is a couple of things.”

On the robotaxi market, Taylor highlighted autonomous vehicle ambitions, positioning Uber as a platform for Chinese tech such as Baidu’s Apollo Go. “Autonomous is a really exciting vector of our business,” he said. Uber has partnered with 25 players worldwide, adding that decisions on locations depend on regulations, consumer needs, and economics.

“Hong Kong is certainly one that’s higher on our list. I won’t commit to a date, but it’s a market that we would be very hopeful in announcing a pilot in the next couple of months with the hope of trying to get something live in the back end of 2026.”

Uber previously exited Macau in 2017 after a series of fines and regulatory hurdles that made the market unviable.