Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is the main public transportation company in Barcelona, Spain, where it operates the metro, public bus, sightseeing bus, cable car, and other transportation services around the city. TMB is committed to providing a friendly, fast, and convenient travel experience to both local residents and tourists alike.

1. Non-user friendly Service

When tourists go to Spain, communication can often be quite a headache, either because the tourists don’t speak Spanish or the local staff don’t speak English fluently. Chinese tourists have a particularly hard time purchasing metro tickets, such as being unsure if they selected the correct departure location. However, language barriers usually leave the local staff powerless to help.

2. Inconvenient Experience

China is transitioning to a “cashless society”, with metro and bus systems already embracing the “smart commuting” trend letting travelers go anywhere using just their mobile phones. As such, Chinese tourists in foreign countries find it troublesome to exchange money and pay in cash. They often need to scrounge their bags for loose change, or end up weighed down by countless coins in their wallets. These kinds of situations make the idea of leisurely travel seem like a hopeless fantasy.

In recent years, more and more Chinese tourists are traveling to Spain, with nearly 600,000 Chinese nationals making the trip in 2018. As the city of brilliant architecture and football, Barcelona is the top destination for most tourists in Spain. With visitors to the city increasing every year, TMB sought to better serve Chinese tourists and provide a more convenient payment and travel experience. To reach this goal, they decided to integrate the WeChat ecosystem and platform capabilities into their transportation services system.

1. TMB WeChat Official Account:

Better reach and serve Chinese tourists in Barcelona The “TMB Barcelona Transit (TMB 巴塞罗那公交)” Official Account provides detailed travel information and maps of the local metro, public bus, sightseeing bus, cable car, and other transportation services. With additional guides to Barcelona attractions and transportation, it ensures a better travel experience for Chinese tourists.

2. TMB Ticket Purchasing Mini Program:

Buy tickets instantly with a single tapWhether users are looking for the Hola Barcelona tourist card, official sightseeing bus, Montjuïc Cable Car, or other transit tickets, they can go to the Barcelona section of the "Europass (欧洲之行)" Mini Program to buy tickets in advance with WeChat Pay. After payment, users will receive a QR code with the ticket information. They can then print out their tickets by scanning the code at a ticket vending machine in any Barcelona metro station. Without any waiting in line or communication difficulties, their tickets are ready to use.

To directly and clearly inform Chinese tourists of WeChat’s convenient ticket purchasing feature, the TMB has posted advertisements at key metro stations. Furthermore, the TMB has been continuously working with WeChat Pay to improve the Official Account content and operations as well as the Mini Program interface, empowering Chinese tourists to travel around Barcelona intelligently with the same convenience they enjoy in China.