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The outbound tourism market in China is undergoing an unprecedented boom now. And the best marketing strategy is also evolving every day in this market. Nowadays, the online marketing strategy has been proven as a very cost-efficient strategy for companies to use.
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Target of online marketing
In 2012, there has been over 80 million people travel overseas from China. Thus, China stays 3rd in terms of its contribution to the international travel market. Besides, Chinese outbound tourists have spent 91 billion USD in 2012, topping the list of expenses. The huge cake has already caught the eyes of companies and nations in this field from all corners of the world.
Now their attraction is caught by online marketing. Especially for those nations or companies that want to attract individual tourists and high-class travelers.
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The main reasons to choose online marketing are the hard facts are:
- 83% of Chinese people tend to consult information online before making decisions.
- that among 66% of the rich people who organize trips for themselves, searching for information online is their first choice, especially information about travel agencies and hotels. (source)
How do Chinese tourists make decisions?
1. Searching
Most Chinese tourists start their preparation for travel by searching for information, especially on the internet. And searching engines, travel websites and SNS are the most popular tools among them.
2. Comparison
After the searching, they will compare all the information they found and here in this step, comments from others, news on other online news media, and ranking are often taken serious consideration.
3. Pay and go travelling
Once they make decisions, they will make the payment for that and enjoy their travel.
What needs to be pointed out is that in the era of the Internet, the value of a tourist doesn’t only mean money, but also his influence. His opinion, ideas, and experience will probably influence people in his circle and the next tourist who searches for information online. And Chinese tourists are likely to trust the word from someone quite close to their situation in real life.
Because of the crucial role of the Internet among most outbound tourists in China, the use of online marketing tools is nothing to sneeze at and the good news is it’s very cost-efficient.
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Solutions
In fact, online Marketing is not only a cost-efficient way to increase the awareness of a company but also in building trust among its target people.
Sometimes, the latter is even more important, especially for high-class tourists from China because Chinese tourists don’t have so much confidence and trust in companies they don’t know.
Here are some solutions to raise your company’s popularity and improve trust via online marketing:
1. Official website and SEO/SEM
A website in Chinese is the first step to showing you in front of customers. And be careful about the design and hosting of the website which are the two main factors influencing the reading experience of visitors.
A nice website without visitors is a waste of budget. And via SEO and SEM, the most efficient solution to getting target visitors, you can bring your customers to see your website.
See more about China SEO
2. Social networks
The influence of the Internet on Chinese citizens has already become wide and deep. Most time Chinese Internet users spend the Internet on social networks, like Weibo and WeChat (or WeiXin as it’s called in China).
Communicating on Weibo and WeChat starts by opening an account, obtaining certifications, publishing interesting content, and interacting with your potential customers to build a community. Weibo is a very powerful tool; the number of fans can add up quickly and allows you to spread your offer to up to 300 million people according to figures reported on Weibo.
See more about China’s Social Media
3. Key Opinion Leader Campaign
KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) or stars have the ability to influence a lot of Chinese people with their communities and the secondary network of their fans. These leaders are highly respected and have a strong influence on large numbers of fans. Their movements are followed and talked about by millions of Internet users. More information is here.
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- high class chinese tourists
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4. PR (Press Relations)
PR campaign in China is very important. It allows you to promote your service to reach a wide variety of Chinese citizens. This communication is primarily with rich visuals or feeds backs and testimonials from people who have visited the country.
See more about PR in China
5. Viral marketing
The SNS in China allows the quick and fast spread of information. And once it turns into a big buzz, netizens in China will have interested to know more about that and even sometimes media will report that. It can greatly increase brand awareness in a very short time.
6. Local partner
The vast majority of Chinese tourist travel in groups. According to a report by the tourism agency of China, group travel takes up 70% of outbound travelling for Chinese people. This number tends to decrease but will still remain high for many reasons such as the language barrier, Visa filing, and fear of risk and price.
Read also: Marketing to Chinese tourists travelers
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Feel free to contact me if you have any serious projects: contact@marketingtochina.com
China Outbound Tourism in 2026: The Numbers You Need to Know
The recovery is no longer a question. It is a fact, and the scale is hard to ignore.
Chinese travelers made 167.9 million outbound trips in 2025, up 15.4% year-on-year. In 2026, forecasts put the total at 165 to 175 million trips, with total overseas spend projected to hit $280 billion, a 22.5% jump over the previous year. Hotels alone account for $85 billion of that spend.
Southeast Asia still leads by volume. Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam dominate the short-haul category. But the pattern is shifting at the edges. Hotel bookings to Egypt tripled year-on-year. Spain, Australia, Turkey, and Portugal more than doubled. By end of 2025, China had visa-free or visa-on-arrival arrangements with 77 countries.
The profile of the outbound traveler has changed. The group-tour model is losing ground. Independent, AI-assisted trip planning is taking over. Ctrip and Fliggy now both offer AI-powered itinerary builders. Research from a 2026 Chinese outbound traveler survey shows that 64.8% come from tier-1 and tier-2 cities, 75.5% hold a university degree, and 73.8% are corporate employees. They plan their trips on their phones, share itineraries on Xiaohongshu, and trust peer reviews far more than brand advertising.
One segment most Western brands miss entirely: travelers aged 60 and above now account for over 20% of all tourists in China and make up 64% of weekday travelers. Senior tourism revenue hit an estimated $140 billion in 2025. These are not budget travelers. Per capita spend per senior reached RMB 46,333 in 2024. Understanding how Chinese consumer behavior differs by generation is not optional at this point. For premium brands entering the China market, this demographic is not a secondary audience.
What This Means for Your Brand in China
- Get on the platforms where decisions are made. Ctrip and Fliggy are the booking layer, but Xiaohongshu and Douyin are where intent is formed. A traveler picks a hotel or experience on social, then books on Ctrip. If your content is not on the discovery platforms, you will not appear in the consideration set. Our guide on KOL marketing in China covers how to activate that layer at scale.
- Do not default to group-tour positioning. The independent traveler now dominates. That means you need SEO visibility on Baidu, content in Mandarin, and review presence on Chinese platforms.
- Take the silver segment seriously. Travelers aged 60+ control a significant share of discretionary spend and are underserved by most Western brands. Comfort, health amenities, and cultural programming are the decision factors, not price.
- Watch the visa-free list. Every new visa-free agreement with China triggers a spike in search volume and booking activity for that destination within weeks. Destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania that have streamlined access are seeing double-digit booking growth.
