7 Must-Know Xiaohongshu Trends for Travel Brands

Over the past several years, Xiaohongshu has become an increasingly important Chinese social media platform for travelers and travel marketing. Now, overseas travel brands are increasingly opening official accounts on the app, using it to sell products, and working together with Xiaohongshu on sales and marketing campaigns. On 28 August 2024, Xiaohongshu’s Head of Commercialization for Outbound Travel, Cathy Wu, joined Dragon Trail for a webinar (watch here) on the platform’s evolution, current trends, and relevance for overseas travel brands. Here are 7 important things we learned from her presentation.

1) As of January 2024, Xiaohongshu boasts more than 19 million “high potential outbound traveling users”, up from around six million in 2022. Who are these Xiaohongshu users? According to platform data about users who searched for “outbound travel,” 77% are female, 79% are aged 19-35 (of these, the 26-30 age bracket is highest), and 42% live in first-tier and new first-tier cities.

2) Xiaohongshu has become the go-to search engine in China, surpassing Baidu. There were 731 million searches related to overseas travel in 2023, up 240% from 215 million in 2022. Data for the past three years shows the annual increase in searches for overseas travel on Xiaohongshu, with a 107% year on year increase as of May 2024, equal to 499 million searches.

3) According to Xiaohongshu’s focus group research, outbound travelers start planning an average 50-60 days ahead of an international trip, or even as early as 90-120 days in advance for a long-haul trip – for example, to the US. They also conduct extensive research, with more than 100 search queries and 300 posts read for a trip of eight hours’ flight time. Searches spike around one week before departure, as well as in the destination.

4) Xiaohongshu started out as a guide to shopping in Hong Kong, followed by other outbound destinations. Now, the most-searched keywords related to overseas shopping are: Luxury, electronics, entertainment, and lifestyle. The most-searched brands for overseas shopping including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Rolex, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Lululemon, Rolls-Royce, and Van Cleef & Arpels.

5) The most-searched travel trends on Xiaohongshu are:
– “Independent”, up 390% year on year, reflecting the popularity of independent travel among Xiaohongshu users

– “Visa-free”, up by 743% year on year, an especially hot topic this year with visa waivers for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and other countries

– “Seasonal”, up by 263% year on year. Cathy Wu stresses that for the Chinese market, “seasonal” doesn’t just refer to the four seasons, but also for Chinese holiday seasons. Xiaohongshu recommends that brands start seeding marketing and sales content around two to three months ahead of major Chinese holidays.

– “Experience”, up by 282% year on year. This includes both nature experiences such as scuba diving, and cultural experiences like concerts and exhibitions, which are increasingly driving Chinese outbound travel.

6) One key factor behind Xiaohongshu’s popularity and success, is that the majority of content on the app – 90% to be exact – is user generated, and this makes it feel authentic and trustworthy. This is actually a ratio actively upheld by Xiaohongshu as a company by limiting paid posts.

7) At the time of Dragon Trail’s previous webinar on Xiaohongshu, in June 2023, the platform did not have an overseas travel department. The opportunity for travel brands to advertise on Xiaohongshu and sell products through it is very new, and quickly developing.

Learn more by watching the recording of our August 2024 webinar on Xiaohongshu for Tourism Marketing.

Thinking about marketing on Xiaohongshu? Dragon Trail’s social media team is experienced in Xiaohongshu account management for overseas destinations, hotels, and attractions, as well as in KOL marketing. Contact us to discuss how we can help.