SINGAPORE - There may soon be more Chinese tourists coming to Singapore, with an online travel service platform helping to pull them in.

Alitrip, the travel service arm of Alibaba Group, announced a new partnership with Singapore's tourism industry and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Friday (Jan 8). It is the the first time it is working with an overseas partner.

Singapore firms in the tourism sector - airlines, hotels, businesses at tourist attractions - will be setting up retail outlets on the Alitrip platform.

It will also offer Chinese travellers dining and shopping promotions through discount cards and coupons, and allow bookings to be made for everything from theme parks and performances to airlines and hotels.

With its big data infrastructure, Alitrip will also be able to offer insights to facilitate the marketing decisions of the STB.

China is Singapore's largest contributor to international visitor arrivals, with about 1.8 million tourists from January to October 2015, a year-on-year growth of 20 per cent.