Top 10 WeChat Posts by DMOs 2019

Which WeChat articles by regional and municipal tourism boards got the most views in 2019? Here are the top 10 most-viewed posts published on WeChat this year. The ranking is based on the number of views the article received the week it was published (as catalogued in Dragon Trail’s WeChat rankings), but we’ve also checked how many views each article has racked up since then.

Half of the most-read posts in 2019 were published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. As the world’s most popular destination for trips outside of mainland China, Hong Kong ranked as the no. 1 DMO in both Q1 and Q2 of this year, but dropped to no. 4 in Q3 after the account stopped posting altogether from the beginning of August, with the exception of once in November and once in late December. Hong Kong’s success on WeChat for the year belies a grim situation for its tourism industry, with ongoing protests keeping away mainland Chinese – and other nationalities’ – tourists. In the early summer, however, the Hong Kong Tourism Board was experimenting with some very interesting horizontal WeChat content layouts – see below for examples.

Other leading posts from 2019 come from Edinburgh, New South Wales (Sydney), the Marianas Islands, Zurich, and Dubai. Read on for the full list, and click here to view 2019’s top WeChat articles by national tourism organizations.

10. Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Slow Travel”, 16,477 views for the week of 13-19 May (17,600 views as of 19 December)

The Hong Kong Tourism Board published half of the most-viewed DMO articles on WeChat in 2019, including these posts on the Dragon Boat Carnival (left, ranked no. 3) and slow travel (right, ranked no. 10)

9. Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Things To Do in Summer”, 16,833 views for the week of 24-30 June (18,600 views as of 19 December)

The Hong Kong Tourism Board experimented with horizontally oriented WeChat posts this summer, which proved popular and are engaging for readers

8. Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Cool Off This Summer”, 18,361 views for the week of 8-14 July (18,600 views as of 19 December)

This interactive, animated, horizontal post from the Hong Kong Tourism Board was extremely fun and engaging, and drew in readers with celebrity tourism ambassador Jackson Wang

7. This is Edinburgh, “Graduation Season, We Don’t Say Goodbye”, 21,381 views for the week of 25 November-1 December (22,000 views as of 19 December)

Edinburgh’s standout post engaged current and past Chinese students in the Scottish capital, with UGC photo content, and memories shared by those who had already graduated

6. Visit NSW, “The Vivid Sydney Festival 2019”, 21,808 views for the week of 25-31 March (81,100 views as of 19 December)

Visit NSW promoted the Vivid Sydney festival with a giveaway of photos signed by actor Zhu Yilong

5. Marianas Visitors Authority, “Marianas Introduces Visa-Free Policy for Chinese Citizens” 22,838 views for the week of 23-29 September (27,700 views as of 19 December)

While the article design wasn’t very exciting, news about visa-free travel to the Marianas Islands was a hit

4. Zurich Tourism, “728th Swiss National Day – 28 Things To Know About Switzerland” 23,190 views for the week of 29 July-4 August (25,500 views as of 19 December)

Posts about national days tend to do well on WeChat, and Zurich’s was no exception

3. Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Hong Kong’s Dragon Boat Festival with Jackson Wang” 26,174 views for the week of 20-26 May (26,500 views as of 19 December)

2. Dubai Tourism, “Tuzki Light Show on Burj Khalifa to Celebrate China’s National Day”, 100,000+ views* for the week of 30 September-6 October

Dubai lit up the Burj Khalifa with Tuzki – a rabbit character from WeChat stickers – and the Chinese flag, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China

1. Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Things To Do During Hong Kong’s Arts Month”, 100,000+ views* for the week of 18-24 February.

The WeChat guide to Hong Kong Arts Month this year was even more popular than in 2018, when it got around 45,600 views

*Please note that the highest number of views counted by WeChat is 100,000.