Expert Predictions for Chinese Tourism in 2025

How will Chinese travelers explore the world in 2025? Which trends will shape their travel decisions, purchases, and behaviors? And how will tourism brands successfully market to Chinese consumers? To look ahead at the year to come for Chinese outbound tourism, we asked experts in tourism and marketing what they forecast and anticipate for 2025.

George Cao | CEO and Co-founder, Dragon Trail International

Three trends for Chinese tourism in 2025:

In 2025, consumer demand in the outbound travel market in China will continue to fragment, particularly in terms of interests. This shift is one of the most significant changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, large group travel is unlikely to see a strong comeback anytime soon. Consumers will remain price-sensitive due to concerns about the overall economic outlook. These factors, combined with new visa-free policies in the region, bode well for the growth of short-haul and emerging destinations.

Consumer awareness and preferences will be increasingly shaped by the large volume of bite-sized content created by brands, media, influencers, and fellow consumers on platforms like Xiaohongshu. As a result, destinations will need to rethink their content strategies, relying more on third-party content creators and artificial intelligence.

In 2024, the number of travel agencies had doubled compared to 2019, surpassing 60,000. However, the number of people working in the travel trade had decreased by over 100,000. To be effective, travel trade marketing will need to go beyond knowledge transfer and product training, placing greater emphasis on empowering agencies with the tools and skills to market and sell effectively.

Three initiatives from Dragon Trail we’re excited to share in 2025:

Over the years, we have built a suite of technologies that help clients manage travel trade marketing more effectively. We are now in a position to integrate all these products into what we call the Travel Trade Marketing Hub, transforming the way international destinations engage with the Chinese travel trade. We’ve already launched the Travel Trade Marketing Hub for several clients in China on the WeChat Mini Program platform, and we plan to launch our first international version of the hub, featuring WhatsApp integration, in Q1 of 2025.

For clients entering China for the first time or reactivating the market after the pandemic, Dragon Trail Research will launch a framework that connects measures of awareness and preference to conversions on OTAs and through tour operators. This approach aims to help clients achieve visitation targets by focusing on the right marketing metrics.

In 2024, we established Dragon Trail Asia Pacific in partnership with a long-time business partner based in Singapore. We will continue to explore opportunities to establish a regional presence in areas where we can provide better services to our clients, and help attract inbound visitation to China from regions with growing demand.

Cathy Wu | Head of Commercialization for Outbound Travel, Xiaohongshu

Outbound travel is still going to be the biggest trends on Xiaohongshu, especially for visa-free countries. We see trends like Saudi, Qatar, UAE, and Central Asia are coming up as top growing traveling destinations because of visa-free policies and exotic cultures.

Other than that, off-season traveling is becoming a hot topic in the Xiaohongshu community, especially for off-season traveling in New Zealand and Australia. More and more young people on Xiaohongshu hope to spend more time and money to enjoy a more comfortable and relaxing travel experience. Therefore, avoiding the scorching heat in China to ski and see glaciers in New Zealand, or escaping the bitter cold to sunbathe and see penguins in Australia, has become a very fashionable trend.

Lastly, it must be mentioned that the purchasing experience and travel tips during trips are consistently among the most searched terms for all destinations. Especially for Japan and South Korea, this is particularly true. Shopping guides on Xiaohongshu are abundant, and people really enjoy visiting our neighboring countries on weekends or short holidays. They might indulge in the so-called ‘Korean girl three-piece set,’ go to Japan to enjoy cherry blossoms and fireworks festivals, or rush to buy limited-edition items.

Nancy Dai | China Market Expert, ForwardKeys

These are the four key trends for Chinese tourism in 2025:

1. Extended Chinese New Year Holiday Boosts Tourism
In 2025, the Chinese New Year holiday has been extended to eight days (January 28–February 4) as part of a government effort to encourage tourism. A noticeable trend this year is the earlier departure of travelers, with some starting their trips as early as January 18. This shift indicates a growing preference for longer holidays and a desire to avoid the peak crowds.

2. Seasonal Peaks Shape Travel Behavior
Seasonal peaks will continue to drive Chinese outbound travel. The Chinese New Year period sees the first major travel surge, followed by a lull in the spring. Travel activity rises again in July with the summer holidays, especially among families and students. Golden Week (October 1–8) generates another significant spike, as travelers take advantage of the extended national holiday. The year closes with moderate travel activity in December, as people prepare for winter vacations and year-end celebrations. These clear patterns highlight the need for marketers and operators to tailor their strategies around key travel periods to maximize engagement and bookings.

3. Strong Recovery in Popular Destinations
Destinations that offer relaxed visa policies and enhanced air connectivity are proving especially attractive to Chinese travelers. Within Asia, countries like Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia are seeing significant growth compared to pre-pandemic levels, particularly in advance of Chinese New Year. Beyond Asia, long-haul destinations such as France, Spain, and Italy are also experiencing strong recovery, with travel volumes surpassing 2019 levels. This suggests a renewed appetite for international travel, both within Asia and to more distant regions.

4. Preference for Smaller Travel Groups
A shift in traveler preferences is evident, with smaller travel groups—especially singles and couples—leading the recovery. Large group travel, particularly those with six or more members, has seen a significant decline compared to pre-pandemic levels. This shift reflects an increasing demand for more personalized, flexible, and independent travel experiences, as travelers prioritize convenience and customization over traditional group tours.

Implications for the Travel Industry
These trends highlight the importance of targeting peak travel periods, promoting destinations with easy access, and catering to the growing demand for independent travel experiences. Extended holidays like Chinese New Year and Golden Week provide opportunities to offer longer, customized itineraries. By aligning marketing and operational strategies with these evolving travel behaviors, the industry can effectively tap into the potential of the recovering Chinese outbound tourism market.

Gary Bowerman | Asia Travel Economist & Consumer Trends Analyst

Diversifying booking and travel patterns to the Middle East and North Africa will be a big theme in 2025. We will see more elaborately curated marketing engagements in China by destinations in these regions to tap growing interest and improving flight connectivity. Promotional budgets are likely to be bigger in 2025, and ambitious destinations will present marquee experiences in first-tier cities reflecting unique aspects of their history, heritage and folklore, traditional arts and culture. In 2024, Saudi Arabia’s reimagining of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and the ancient Egypt exhibition at the Shanghai Museum set a high bar. We may also see thematic travel and brand partnerships as tourism marketers explore attention-grabbing interactions as competition to attract Chinese visitors heats up. Meanwhile, the globalization of Xiaohongshu will accelerate, enabling travelers to follow the social footprints of their peers to off-track locations and in-the-know hangouts in, or close to, popular destinations.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt | Director, China Outbound Tourism Research Institute

Most important trends for Chinese tourism in 2025:
Chinese society has turned from optimism to anxiety. As a result more Chinese are looking for spiritual experiences, from being in untouched nature to yoga and meditation retreats in places like Nepal. Wellbeing, which encompasses more than just wellness, will be one of the major trends in 2025.

What new plans and projects are most exciting in 2025:
Sustainable practices in hotels and resorts tend to concentrate only on the operation of the hotel (no more plastic bottles etc.), overlooking that at least 10% of the pollution are happening during the construction of the building, if traditional forms of construction and concrete are used. New forms of industrial production of prefabricated buildings are saving time, money and are much more environmental friendly, using biodegradable materials and better forms of insulation, which save energy during operation as well. The Meaningful Tourism Centre is excited about new technologies coming from China to reduce pollution and waste during construction.

Dragon Trail can help you achieve your marketing and sales goals for China in 2025, with our full suite of services including social media marketing and web development, travel agent training, events, market representation, research, and strategy consulting. Read more about our services and case studies of our work, and contact us at info@dragontrail.com.