Travel and Hospitality

Chinese tourists research and book travel very differently from Westerners. These consumers are accustomed to using a super-app ecosystem where local platforms dominate every stage of a trip, from inspiration to booking to social sharing. Here are some of the travel apps they use for planning and booking.

As China’s outbound tourism continues to recover, the family travel market segment also picks up its pace. More modern travelers (especially Millennial and Gen Z age groups) are planning overseas group tours online, which indicates a shift in preferences and consumption patterns.

With Chinese consumers back in the outbound tourism hype, they’re increasingly searching for more convenient ways to book travel-related services. One source that never fails to satisfy their needs is the long list of popular online travel agencies (OTA) in China. 

Gone are the days when live commerce was only for buying products and services. In China’s tourism industry, consumers include live-streaming platforms as a significant part of their travel planning process (pre-trip, during-trip, and post-trip). 

With the power of She Economy extending its influence in the Chinese outbound tourism market, foreign travel brands must closely follow the consumption patterns that these audiences exhibit and how they affect their travel planning. And what better platform to find that data than Xiaohongshu?

The travel retail trend refers to how Chinese tourists make “shopping” the sole purpose of their overseas trips. Its prevalence over the past few years created many business opportunities for foreign brands that helped them gain new customers and potential sales from this consumer segment. 

Chinese Gen Z tourists grew up with the rapid evolution of e-commerce and social media platforms. Because of this, the driving force of their travel consumption patterns often comes from online trends, reviews, and user-generated content.