2024 Full-Year WeChat Rankings Report

Dragon Trail’s WeChat Rankings Report for 2024 examines and analyzes the performance of eight categories of travel brands on WeChat: national tourism organizations (NTOs), destination marketing organizations (DMOs, referring to regional and municipal tourism boards), airlines, cruise lines, museums and attractions, hotels, airports, and car rental companies. The report is based on data collected by Dragon Trail on a weekly basis, and aims to provide industry benchmarks and track trends in WeChat content marketing for overseas tourism brands. Dragon Trail has been collecting weekly data on NTOs, DMOs, airlines and cruise lines since 2017, with the hotels and attractions categories added in 2018, and airports and car rental companies from Q2 2024.

2024 saw fairly positive results for international travel brands on WeChat, based on reading rates, showing that this social media is still a relevant content platform for outbound travel marketing. One standout development was the popularization of albums, a posting format that resembles Instagram’s layout with large images to swipe through and text underneath, rather than a more traditional WeChat article layout. The album format was introduced to WeChat in March 2023, but has been more widely embraced in 2024 and is used especially by destinations and museums, with strong results.

In the last quarter of 2024, posts about Christmas celebrations and events attracted high reading rates – but what’s interesting is that the most popular Christmas-related content came from destinations in Asia, rather than those where Christmas is more traditionally celebrated. As has always been the case over Dragon Trail’s seven years of WeChat Rankings, fall foliage was a particularly popular topic in Q4 2024, and news about new flight connections also reliably attracts a lot of attention.

Article views

There are no clear overall trends for changes in average views per post for WeChat content posted by international travel brands in the last year, or looking back over the previous eight years. Each category has its own trajectory, and there are also two categories where one outlying account has an outsized impact on the overall performance for that category – in these cases, we also consider data for the category without the outlying accounts.

NTOs had their best year since 2021 in terms of average views per post, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 20%. While the average views per post are significantly lower, DMOs – excluding Macau – also saw a modest increase of 2.35%, and the highest average views per post in the past eight years. No longer dominating as the only outbound destination approved for tourist visits, as it was during the pandemic, Macau has continued to see a decline in average views per post from its pandemic-era highs. The airline category saw a 15% year-on-year decrease in average views per post, and is quite far off pre-pandemic averages – though this category has been fairly stable during the last four years. Cruise lines’ average views per post grew by an impressive 45%, for the best year since 2019. With Disneyland Hong Kong, the attractions category had nearly no change in average views per post since last year, with a tiny 0.36% increase that made 2024 the highest year yet. However, when this account is removed, we see that the remaining attractions actually experienced a 19% drop in average views per post, to the lowest level we’ve recorded over the past seven years. Finally, content posted by international hotels had its highest readership yet, with an increase of close to 21% from last year.

NTOs

Japan remained firmly at the top of the rankings for national tourism boards in 2024, for the seventh year in a row. The tourism board ranked highest for both total views and average views per post. With almost 44k views, Japan’s most-read article in Q4 was about fall foliage. Destination Canada, ranked 8th overall for the year, also published an article on autumn foliage that was one of the most-read posts among NTOs in the fourth quarter.

Christmas was another popular content theme in Q4 for NTOs, though the accounts with the most views for their Christmas content may be surprising, since they are both in Asia. Malaysia surpassed 30.4k views for its Christmas article, with Singapore getting 25.4k views for its post on Christmas celebrations.

(Left to right) Fall foliage in Japan, Saudi Tourism at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, and Christmas in Malaysia

Ranked 12th for 2024 and 10th in Q4 (scroll to the end of the article for Q4 2024 rankings charts), Saudi Arabia was the NTO that moved up the rankings most significantly – from 31st place in 2023. The tourism board had an especially big boost at the end of the year thanks to its promotional event at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the launch of new flights on Cathay Pacific between Hong Kong and Riyadh, and on Saudia between Beijing and Dammam.

DMOs

2024 saw the comeback of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Bureau on WeChat, moving up from 29th place in 2023 to 8th for the year and 5th in Q4. The tourism board’s most-read articles during the year were informational posts about resumed flight connections between LA and East Asia, and a preview of the 2028 Olympics. Tahiti also moved up the rankings significantly, from 28th to 11th place, attracting more than 20k views for a detailed guide to flying via Tokyo in Q4.

(Left to right) Christmas in Hong Kong, Dubai’s Miracle Garden, and resumed flights to Los Angeles

The most-read content in the DMO category in Q4 was an Instagram-style photo album post by Dubai Tourism about its Miracle Garden, which opened for the season in October. The post got more than 100k views. Other top articles were guides from Macau to performances in October and November, as well as Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations, and a Christmas-themed post from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Airlines

Overall in 2024, the most popular posts in the airline category came from low-cost carrier AirAsia, promoting travel to Southeast Asia with big discounts on flights. Other airlines like Hong Kong Airlines and All Nippon Airways also promoted their Southeast Asia routes to WeChat readers, achieving high views per post.

(Left to right) 12/12 discounts on flights to Japan and the US from All Nippon Airways, AirAsia’s guide to Penang, and Air Canada announces resumed and increased China flights

Looking at the top posts during Q4 2024, we also see keen interest in travel from China to North America, which has been limited because of low flight capacity since the pandemic. The most-read article of the quarter, with 61,840 views, was All Nippon Airways’ 12/12 promotion for flights to the US, as well as those to and within Japan. With more than 42k views, Air Canada’s November post about the addition of new flights connecting China with Vancouver was also well received. Other popular content in Q4 included 11/11 sales from AirAsia and ANA, and AirAsia’s guide to Penang.

Cruise Lines

Cruising has seen a strong resurgence in China in the last year, with particularly strong bookings at Chinese New Year. On WeChat, Viking Cruises stands out, increasing average content views by 141% compared to 2023. The other biggest account, Royal Caribbean increased total article views by 93% year on year, but this is because of a huge 153% increase in the amount of articles published – average views per post actually decreased by nearly 24% compared to 2023.

Viking’s top posts promoted European cruises, and the release of their 2025 sailing schedule with new routes in September surpassed 100k views. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean’s focus was the most popular, and therefore competitive, outbound cruise routes from China – to Japan and South Korea, promoted with a variety of deals and discounts.

Attractions and Museums

Hong Kong Disneyland accounted for 82% of the total views in the Attractions category on WeChat in 2024, and the 31 most-read articles of the year in this category were all published by this one account. Hong Kong Disneyland’s most popular content, with more than 100k views, promoted Chinese New Year celebrations and events.

As for museums content, one major change in 2024 is that New York’s Museum of Modern Art stopped posting on WeChat after 1 April. With the second-highest views per post in the category, MoMA’s absence certainly impacts the category as a whole, and helps to explain the -19% change in views per post if Hong Kong Disneyland is excluded from this category.

The two museums that do stand out still for above-average reading rates are both in London: The British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The British Museum’s top posts were a promotion of a live streamed event with the curator of their “China’s Hidden Century” exhibition, and an album-style photo post about their Chinese ceramics collection. The V&A’s top articles were both published in Q4, with an announcement about their traveling William Morris exhibition opening in Shanghai (it was previously in Beijing), and news about the 2025 opening of the V&A East in east London.

Hotels

International hotels have had their second consecutive highest year ever for average views per post on WeChat. With more than 100k views, the most-read post was by Hilton, celebrating the opening of their 700th property in China this August. Both published in Q4, the other most-read hotel articles were IHG’s post featuring brand ambassador and table tennis star Xu Xin, with 78,767 views; and an article by Hilton recommending hotel properties based on Myers-Briggs personality types, with 70,044 views. Throughout the year, large hotel groups often worked with celebrity ambassadors from the world of entertainment and sports, to attract views and cultivate brand image.

(Left to right) Table tennis player Xu Xin for InterContinental, Melia Hotels promotes travel to Tanzania, and Hilton’s hotel suggestions based on Myers-Briggs personality types

Melia Hotels nearly doubled their average views per post in 2024, compared to the year previously. This account stands out at the top of the rankings tables for promoting international properties just as heavily as domestic ones. Their top posts included the launch of a WeChat mini-program and vouchers for their Shanghai hotel, a promotion of properties in Spain, and an article about traveling in Tanzania.

Our two new WeChat Rankings categories for 2024 are airports and car rental companies, with data collected from Q2 onwards.

Airports

Giveaways are one big way to boost article views for airports on WeChat, and the most-read posts of the year for airports were giveaways from Hong Kong’s and Osaka’s airports. But for airports – as well as other kinds of accounts – it’s important to consider what the account’s goal really is and how WeChat content fits into that. Especially considering that a WeChat account might fulfill a similar function to a website, it’s perhaps more helpful to create longer-lasting content that followers will be able to find through menu bar navigation and/or offered as automatic replies set up with keywords for chat sessions with the account. A good example of this kind of long-lasting content would be Istanbul Airport’s Q4 guide to the airport, including their extensive Chinese-language services, lounges, dining, hotels, and activities – this content was also promoted with a KOL video and a giveaway.

(Left to right) Changi Airport’s winter dining guide, Hong Kong International Airport’s Twilight of the Warriors – Walled In pop-up, and a KOL collaboration for Istanbul Airport

Ranked first for total views, Hong Kong International Airport’s other top posts had a cultural focus, including an exhibition featuring set pieces from the film Twilight of the Warriors – Walled In, which is set in Kowloon’s famous Walled City; a post on the Hong Kong International Arts and Culture Festival; and Christmas decorations and performances at the airport.

With the highest average views per post, Singapore’s Changi Airport posted about family activities in the summer, and a seasonal dining guide in winter. Outside of Asia, European airports in Rome and Paris attracted views for information on shopping promotions, while Vancouver shared a video and guide to customs and immigration rules.

Car Rentals

Average views per post in the car rental category are fairly low, but one account that’s bucked this trend is Avis. Their most popular articles in Q4 promoted driving in Oceania, the US, and Europe with 12/12 discounts of up to 20% off, and a food-focused guide to driving in Spain. The other standout account for the year, Hertz published a popular guide to summer road trips in Norway, as well as FAQs for international car rentals.

Q4 Rankings Tables

Dragon Trail’s full suite of marketing services for China includes WeChat account establishment and management, WeChat content creation, WeChat mini-programs and more. Please contact us to discuss how we can help you reach your WeChat marketing goals.