Chinese outbound tourism appears to be back in business, yet not all destinations are benefitting equally. Why is this? And what can tourism agencies that are not seeing high numbers of Chinese visitors do to address this predicament?
If this question interests you, you’ve come to the right place. Today, I hope to not only provide useful information about China’s outbound tourism, but also explain how to navigate the country’s social media to improve your marketing.
Having almost two decades of experience in marketing, Nanjing Marketing Group has a long history in this industry. If this article is helpful to your business, why not consider reaching out to us?
Key Takeaways
- Outbound Chinese tourism has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, 145.9 million trips were taken, which is almost as many as in 2019 (155 million).
- Many countries have seen a huge uptick in Chinese visitors, although the USA and Thailand have seen a drop.
- More tourism companies are looking for partnerships in China (especially in the museum sector).
- Baidu prioritizes Chinese content, so a Chinese-language website increases the chance of traffic.
- WeChat Mini Programs are being used by city tourism agencies to make travel more convenient for Chinese citizens.
- Douyin should be your main video content platform.
- RedNote is the best app for targeting female users and young families.
- Bilibili is the place to build trust with younger, college-age travelers.
Chinese Tourism Data 2025
Recent Chinese tourism data can be divided into three periods:
- Pre-pandemic 2010s: Rising outbound Chinese tourism
- 2020–2023: Less outbound tourism due to COVID-19
- 2024–now: Revival and growth, but a Shifting Market
Chinese Tourism From COVID Until 2024
According to a 2023 Forbes article, “[B]efore the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019, China was the largest contributor to outbound tourism, with 170 million trips, bringing in $253 billion for the global economy.”
Forbes: Preparing For A Rise Of Chinese Tourists And Their Global Impact
Unfortunately, while Forbes was right about the importance of Chinese tourists to the industry, it also proved to be correct that 2023 would not be the year international travel returned to 2019’s levels.
This ran counter to many other outlets jubilantly anticipating that the Chinese government ending its zero COVID policy would lead to people “revenge spending” after multiple years of being unable to leave the country; instead, people chose to save money rather than spend it on international travel.
What were the reasons that pent-up demand didn’t come roaring back as quickly as expected?
Over the past two years, the English and Chinese press have been debating the actual health of the Chinese economy, with some papers even reporting that the country has been in an economic depression.
Tensions between the United States and China became pretty tense in mid-2023 as well. This was one reason why China’s economy was affected by supply chains shifting to the Global South.
Meanwhile, the property sector crisis brought on by companies like Evergrande Group rippled across the country, coupled with increasing global inflation rates, which put people off traveling internationally.
Despite concerns about China’s economy, investors watching Chinese stocks related to tourism may have been aware that the situation was a little more nuanced. For example, one of China’s top trip booking websites, Trip, has seen explosive growth since the pandemic.
Those who pay attention to international hotel conglomerates may have noticed growth related to China, with the Marriott and Hilton chains building new complexes in lower-tier Chinese cities—possibly indicating an increased preference for domestic tourism.
Given the fears of geopolitics and the expenses of going abroad, many youngsters decided to visit lesser-known places in their home country instead.
At the time I am writing this, it is already mid-way through 2025. COVID-19 is long behind us, and over the past year, several tourist locations worldwide have announced they’ve reached or nearly regained their pre-pandemic highs.
The question then is whether the same is true for Chinese outbound tourism.
Analysts are claiming, as they did in 2023, that 2025 will be the year Chinese outbound tourism returns to pre-pandemic levels.
Are they right, or is this just another red herring?
Chinese Outbound Tourism is Bouncing Back in 2025
Unlike early 2023, when projections were mostly built on comparing how events unfolded in other countries once they lifted COVID restrictions with China, this year, there is a lot of data showing there is reason to be hopeful about the near future of outbound Chinese tourism.
Below is a list of countries that have experienced a shift due to Chinese tourists. As we will see, most have seen positive growth, but not all.
Europe’s Tourism Data
| Country | Information |
| Italy | – China leads the return of Italy’s luxury travel industry – Spending in 2024 increased by 24% |
| France | – Flight bookings doubled |
| Serbia | – Surge in tourists during the first nine months of 2024 – China may surpass Russia and Turkey as the No. 1 origin country of tourists |
| Greece | – Tourists increased by 30% in 2024 |
| Spain | – Tourist spending reached a new high of $3276.2 in 2024, an increase of 25% compared with 2019 |
Asia’s Tourism Data
| Country | Information |
| Japan | – Chinese Tourism up 600% in 2024 compared to 2023 – Contributed 40% of total tourism revenue during some peak seasons |
| Kazakhstan | – An increase of 78% more visits in 2024 compared with 2023 – Moved from being ranked 40th to 29th place on the list of popular countries |
| Kyrgyzstan | – As of late 2024, tour groups can now visit without a visa for up to 21 days – Tourism up 56% in 2024 (127,956 in total)New “Sapar Visa” allows single or multiple entry stays of up to 90 days – New direct flights link Bishkek with Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, and Urumqi |
| Uzbekistan | – As of 2021, Chinese nationals can now visit without a visa for up to 30 days – Tourism up 75% in 2024 (74,304 in total) – The first regular flight from Xi’an to Samarkand occurred in 2024 – Other cities like Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Sanya have launched direct flights |
| Tajikistan | – Since March 2024, Chinese citizens aged 55 and older can visit without a visa for up to 20 days – First direct flights between capital cities (2025) |
| Cambodia | – Tourism to Angkor up 29% in the first four months of 2025 |
| Australia | – The number of tourists reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels |
| United Arab Emirates | – Chinese tourists are leading the charge in rejuvenating the city’s tourism industry |
| Vietnam | – A record number of tourists in the first quarter of 2025 |
| Saudi Arabia | – First direct flight to China in 2023 – Increased flight bookings by 277% |
| South Korea | – Travel bookings doubled in 2024 compared to 2023 |
| Thailand | – Analysts project a 50% decline in 2025 – In April 2025, Chinese tourists arriving daily were a third of peak levels in 2019 |
North America’s Tourism Data
| United States | – A 7% decline in summer flight bookings – The first six months of 2025 saw a 2.6% growth in Chinese visitors from 2024 to 755,225 arrivals. |
| Canada | – British Columbia saw a 65.1% year-over-year growth in Chinese visitors in January – Increase in flights |
Africa’s Tourism Data
| Country | Information |
| South Africa | – Year-over-year growth of 82% (number of tourists) |
| Tanzania | – Up from 34,000 (2019) to approximately 44,000 (2023) |
| Kenya | – Flight bookings from Feb. to Aug. 2024 increased 167% year-over-year |
| Egypt | – Tourism up 65% in 2024 |
South America’s Tourism Data
| Country | Information |
| Brazil | – A new record of 76.524 visits in 2024, which is a 79% increase compared to 2023 |
Why Are Some Countries Benefiting From Chinese Tourism More Than Others?
Agencies, museums, and other parts of the tourism industry may feel that the data concerning nations does not apply to them; nevertheless, when it comes to international travel, a small business can be impacted by forces outside its control.
One reason many tourists have been deterred from visiting China in the past is that paper money has been practically rendered obsolete, and the payment apps used domestically are not entirely foreigner-friendly.
For Americans, it makes sense that Mexico is their top foreign destination given its proximity to the United States.
When it comes to marketing, tourism agencies should be aware of broader trends in the market to understand the challenges, as well as the changes that enable (or encourage) more tourists to travel.
Think Bigger: Government-led Initiatives
Kazakhstan may be the country to watch over the next few years. One reason the Central Asian nation saw a burst in activity was due to increasing diplomatic connections between it and China.
For example, in an official visit to China, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev heralded 2024 as the year of Chinese tourism in Kazakhstan. This was preceded by a state visit in 2023 to China, where the two countries signed a mutual visa-free tourism agreement.
Kazakhstan’s example here highlights that it certainly helps if governments make an effort to realize the potential of reciprocal tourism, especially if it includes no more visa restrictions.
Therefore, tourism companies should ask themselves. Do I attend events in my home country that discuss broader developments in my industry? Do I make attempts to influence my political representatives to improve relations with China?
Perhaps one way to lead with this is by reminding leaders that travel is the gateway to getting foreigners interested in their nation’s food, music, history, and architecture, thus benefiting other industries.
Find Equals: Partner With Chinese Counterparts
Another tip we can learn from Kazakhstan is the importance of inter-company partnerships.
When Tokayev met with Xi, more than 200 agreements were signed and 37 business events were organized to strengthen tourism between the countries. These events are crucial for a healthy market, as they lead to in-person interactions between companies. According to an Astana Times article:
“Over 300 bilateral meetings were held in Astana, Beijing, Almaty, Urumqi, and Hong Kong. Kazakhstan also participated in four major tourism exhibitions – ITB China, ITE Hong Kong, China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market (COTTM), and China International Medical Tourism Fair – establishing over 50 new partnerships with leading Chinese tour operators.”
These events also led to 10 “familiarization tours” being set up, where Chinese tourism industry representatives and opinion leaders were invited to Kazakhstan.
The potential of these cross-cultural partnerships, regardless of where in the world, cannot be ignored. In recent months, the American social media celebrity, iShowSpeed, made the news in both English and Chinese for his livestreamed trip to China.
Judging by the comments on these videos, Speed’s high-profile visit certainly got a lot of people interested in visiting China.
Your tourism agency or site could also partner with Chinese social media stars to do something similar.
Given the power of the Internet today, there are multiple ways tourism companies can form partnerships, and it doesn’t need to be “top down.” Nanjing Marketing Group has the data to help your company connect with the right business or online influencer to ensure you see a steady stream of Chinese tourists in the future.
This also applies to offline collaborations.
One reason Egypt saw growth in Chinese tourism may be due to a popular exhibit that was recently held in Shanghai called At the Top of the Pyramids. According to the Egypt Independent, this exhibit “received up to 136,000 visitors during the first two weeks of its opening, which prompted the management of the Shanghai Museum to extend visiting hours to the evening for four days a week.”
Similarly, Greece witnessed a rise in Chinese tourism with the two countries attempting to promote more cultural exchange, which has included the first exhibit on Minoan culture opening in Beijing and another in Changsha.
Hearing about this success, ask yourself: Has an exhibit about the American frontier ever been shown in a museum in China? Have people in Central China ever seen medieval armor in person? Would Chinese high schoolers be interested in learning about South American geography?
Some may think that being able to see these artifacts and resources locally could reduce the public’s desire to visit a foreign country. However, it’s important to remember that many people may never have had the opportunity to travel abroad.
Therefore, these borrowed collections are not just showcasing what one museum has; they are piquing the public’s general interest in a different culture and history.
The Shanghai Museum is just one example of a museum eager to create these kinds of relationships, and it’s working hard to partner with over 182 international institutions in 105 cities.
While museum attendance in other parts of the world is declining, in China, it’s very much on the up, says a 2024 Xinhua article, “In 2023, a new record for museum attendance was set in China, with over 6,000 museums nationwide registering a total of 1.29 billion visits throughout the year.”
Get Creative: Using the Entertainment Industry to Promote Tourism
It’s also important to recognize the influence Kazakhstan’s entertainment industry had on the increase in Chinese tourism.
China’s largest TV channel, CCTV, aired the documentary Bond With China, and the popular TV show To the Wonder—featuring ethnically Kazakh main characters—which may have also played a role.
While this is certainly a lot more work than your average marketing campaign, this highlights once again how government-to-government relations play a role in empowering non-state tourism companies within China. If there is any possibility your agency has relations with a local government, perhaps tap into any sister city relationship your municipality may have with a city in China.
Philadelphia and Tianjin’s long-running ties are an example of this. Last year, the two cities celebrated 45 years of their partnership at Philadelphia’s City Hall, and during that event, tourism was a main topic.
Instead of high-budget TV series, tourism agencies should consider working with their local governments to leverage their sister-city relationships in China to create mini-series for video streaming platforms.
If you’re a colonial town in the United States, a castle in the United Kingdom, or a famous artist’s home in the Netherlands, use the living history at your fingertips to craft a short and sweet story.
After all, consumers worldwide are growing more accustomed to watching low-budget videos with story elements thanks to TikTok. TV shows less than 10 minutes long, known as microseries, have also become popular within China in recent years.
Don’t Rely on What Has Worked: Chinese Tourists Want Nuance
As the Chinese saying goes, “an apex usually signifies a decline,” so tourism agencies should be aware that the good times won’t last forever. What was once super popular can become familiar and boring overnight.
Thailand is a good example of this. Although it is terrific for all the countries that saw a growth in Chinese tourism last year, this has come at the expense of the Southeast Asian nation, which was traditionally the number one destination for Chinese tourists over the Lunar New Year holiday.
As some countries have relaxed their visa requirements (or scrapped them completely) and increased their marketing efforts, many Chinese tourists have wanted to take the opportunity to see new places, rather than return to a country they’ve already visited.
Therefore, Thailand’s example here illustrates the importance of nuance in marketing to Chinese tourists. Instead of assuming people will always return to the same place every year, companies and governments should pay more attention to the changing consumer habits of tourists.
This can also include realizing that China is changing.
One way Thailand is attempting to mitigate the decline in Chinese tourists is by investing more in marketing within the second and third-tier cities. After all, these places are areas that are still catching up with more developed metropolises like Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.
This marketing campaign has also included subsidizing flights from these cities and partnering with Chinese payment apps to increase ads.
Offer More Individualized Experiences
One change tourism sites can make is by adapting to how younger Chinese are more interested in independent travel.
Some articles have mentioned that one possible reason why tourism to Thailand has dropped recently is that the country hasn’t been offering enough solo travel options.
In the past, older generations preferred cheap group tours, but now Millennials and Gen Z are more interested in unique experiences that cater to their personal tastes.
“Another trend: ‘Flight + Local Car Rental’ has become the new standard. Trip.com’s May Day Report noted that average car rental spending was up 24%, rental periods were longer (averaging 4 days), and 85% of rentals were for intercity self-driving—35% of which were family trips. Overseas, this trend holds too: Xiaohongshu posts on ‘self-driving in Iceland/New Zealand/USA’ hit 41M, 30M, and 16M views respectively. Travelers shared tips and reflections, with many echoing the sentiment: ‘To truly live, you must first slow down.’”
The words “slow down” should not be ignored.
The quoted article has a few other examples showing how younger Chinese are no longer seeing travel as a way to pack as much in as possible, but a way to escape the grind of work culture. There are loads of articles online discussing the best places for solo travel, with Norway, Japan, and Australia topping the lists.
Advertise Cheap Group Tours
While more individualized travel has grown in popularity, tourism agencies should not forget the tried-and-tested method of promoting group tours. This is especially true for countries less familiar to Chinese citizens.
Commenting on Cambodia’s 29% rise in Chinese tourists, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh pointed out how greater accessibility of tour packages had exerted a strong influence on this increase.
Pay Attention to Safety
The recent story of a Chinese celebrity who was kidnapped in Thailand and then trafficked to Myanmar may also be responsible for a reduction in the number of tourists visiting the country. While not everyone agrees that this is the main cause of the decrease, safety is a concern for most travelers.
If you ever create online content (videos or images), try to frame it to make the locations you’re selling appear safe.
Highlight Luxury Products & High Fashion
Although recent data suggests that Gen Z may not be as crazy about luxury brands as previous generations, this may not be the case when it comes to tourism.
A Global Times article noted that “19 percent of Chinese respondents cited shopping as a main motivation for their trip, while 31 percent declared that they would only visit Italy during their trip to Europe. Fifty-eight percent expect to find a “Chinese speaker” in boutiques, while quality is what drives them to shop in Italy.”
This suggests that Chinese tourists may still want these luxury items, but prefer to purchase them while traveling. After all, what better way to remember a trip than purchasing a high-priced item?
The expectation of a Chinese-speaking clerk should highlight the importance of hiring Mandarin speakers. While there may not be the same expectation for trips to Europe or the US, companies should consider the difference a native speaker will make to their business.
On a 2018 trip to Osaka, Japan, I was astounded by how many shopkeepers could speak Mandarin.
Young Travelers Want to Avoid Crowds
Regardless of culture, most tourists go on holiday to escape their daily routines, and this usually means different food, a slower pace, or a change of scenery.
However, for Chinese travelers (many of whom live in some of China’s most populated cities), such an experience could also include finding a refuge from their busy metropolitan lives.
The COVID pandemic was a grim time, but one hidden upside is that it pushed more people worldwide to rediscover their love for nature. This was also true in China, and over the past five years, this love affair has only become stronger.
Therefore, it’s no wonder that the term “reverse travel”—a phenomenon where netizens share pictures of themselves in quieter, more remote settings—trended on Chinese social media last year.
Many of the countries that have seen an increase in Chinese tourists in recent years are also places offering outdoor activities and natural scenery. Whether you have grasslands like Kazakhstan or small towns like Canada, tourism agencies should focus on advertising how these locations can offer an escape.
Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have also realized the importance of this approach and are already benefiting from Chinese tourism.
Another trend that aligns with this topic is the growth of camping culture in China since the pandemic, and analysts believe that this style of travel will double by 2030.
Additionally, apps like RedNote have been hosting more outdoor-related events recently.
Travel company Ctrip also found that searches related to camping, hiking, and river trekking increased by 120% compared with last year.
This could be the most “unknown” opportunity in the tourism industry, especially for small towns in countries like the USA, Canada, France, and Germany that are known for camping in nature.
Create a WeChat Mini Program
A Mini Program is basically an app within China’s leading social messaging app, WeChat. (More on WeChat’s Mini Programs later).
For example, TripAdvisor has a mini program that is practically a mirror copy of their international app (English language).
After seeing large numbers of Chinese visitors this year, Barcelona’s Tourism Consortium is investing in a mini program to help Mandarin speakers better navigate the city.
Perhaps your city or tourist agency could follow Barcelona’s lead.
Other Important Tourism Trends in China
Besides the above, I recommend that companies within the industry get better acquainted with other trends that could help them get ahead of the competition.
When Do Chinese Citizens Tend to Travel?
While China celebrates New Year’s and has summer vacations like any other country, its other holidays may be unfamiliar:
- Spring Festival/Lunar New Year: Usually at the end of January or early February
- Qing Ming Festival: April 4–April 6
- International Workers’ Day: May 1
- Dragon Boat Festival: Sometime between late May and mid-June
- Mid-Autumn Festival: Sometime between mid-September and early October
- Golden Week: One week off in early October
The above graph shows that Chinese tourists don’t travel internationally over the New Year as much as their counterparts in other countries.
For hotels and other companies, this fact should not be overlooked. For example, February and March are typically slower periods, especially since they come right after Christmas. This may be the time to focus more on marketing to Chinese tourists.
We could say the same is true for Golden Week, which takes place a month or two before Thanksgiving.
Uncertainty Around Travel to the United States
There was a lot of speculation during the first half of 2025 that some of President Trump’s polices, like tighter immigration controls and the trade war, may reduce the number of Chinese coming to the US.
While data on overall tourism to the United States has shown this to be true, thus far, the same hasn’t happened with travelers from China.
Nevertheless, industry insiders predict that the numbers may still decrease in the long term, especially if inflation is an issue in the United States.
Set Up a Chinese Language Tourism Website
Although web browser extensions can translate English sites to Chinese with the click of a button, this doesn’t get around the problem of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In other words, if your museum or public building doesn’t have a translated website, you may be decreasing the chances of Chinese citizens discovering you.
Baidu, China’s top search engine, prioritizes Chinese-language content; therefore, English websites may get drowned out.
A Baidu search for the London Museum doesn’t bring up the English website; instead, the search results show Baidu’s own encyclopedia page and several unofficial websites.
The same is true when you search the museum’s Chinese name.
This is not always the case, as the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website appears in a Baidu search.
Chinese museums and tourist attractions already understand the importance of having a translated version of their website. (You should follow their example.)
By having a translated website, there is a higher likelihood that individuals and families searching the web for new adventures or travel activities will stumble across your attraction.
Half the battle of marketing is just ensuring your content is visible.
How to Use Social Media to Attract Chinese Tourists
In addition to increasing the chances of being discovered, consistently showing up by making content consistently can help tourism-related entities improve their branding. There is no better way of doing this than utilizing social media.
Use Chinese Social Media to Build Community
You may believe your beach or hotel has nothing in common with brands like Starbucks or Lululemon, yet, at the end of the day, all companies are selling an experience as well as a product.
People buy Tesla or BYD cars because these vehicles have come to symbolize something else, like cutting-edge technology, sustainability, or, in China’s case (with BYD), nationalism. Consumers choose products based on values and the stories brands tell, in addition to their functionality.
By understanding the consumers’ dreams and values, these “stories” also tap into their emotions. When buying a product or service that they believe aligns with their values, a person sees themselves as part of something larger.
This works even better if a brand uses social media to attract all its fans to a central location where they can comment and share pictures.
The fashion industry is a good example of this. Consumers don’t only follow a fashion brand online to remain up to date with their latest releases and current trends. Seeing others share their thoughts about a new outfit reinforces a person’s sense of identity and cements their sense of belonging.
Holiday destinations work in the same way.
A company’s social media account can confirm a person’s feelings of belonging and identity. For example, a video of an event at a hotel or a new food at a restaurant can rekindle fond memories of a previous visit, possibly encouraging them to return.
Done the right way, good content creation will make a consumer feel like they never left your hiking trail or ancient building.
By having a social media account, your company can reinforce these feelings. A video of an event at a hotel or a new food at a restaurant will remind a person of their previous visit, possibly encouraging them to return.
Done the right way, good content creation will make a consumer feel like they never left your hiking trail or ancient building.
Understanding Social Media Demographics to Advertise to Chinese Tourists
While community lies at the heart of every good marketing strategy, your company should be aware that not every social media app in China caters to the same demographics.
WeChat and Douyin, for instance, are used by the majority of age groups.
However, the latter app is not so popular outside of the more developed cities in China.
Then there is RedNote, an app with users who are mainly female and based in more affluent parts of the country.
BiliBili may also be an option, but its users tend to be much younger.
Marketing is all about knowing your audience. While you may want to use every Chinese social media app to advertise your tourist attraction, it may also be a good idea to begin with the app that aligns most with your target demographic.
If you know university students love your beach town, BiliBili may be the best choice. If your hotel hosts family-friendly events, try WeChat. If you’re seeing a lot of solo traveling women, give RedNote a try.
| App | Target Tourist Demographic |
| WeChat | – All age groups – Family-friendly locations – All income levels – First-time overseas travelers |
| Douyin | – All age groups – Family-friendly locations – All income levels – More internationally-minded travelers |
| RedNote | – Young-to-middle-aged Adults – Solo female travelers – Higher-income levels – More internationally-minded travelers – Young families |
| BiliBili | – College students – First-time overseas travelers – Budget travelers |
Be aware that although one app may cater to a particular audience, this doesn’t mean other types of people don’t use it. To maximize reach, tourism agencies should utilize all the apps listed above.
However, understanding demographics is only a fraction of the puzzle. The experience users will have on every app also differs, and this will influence how your company advertises.
WeChat is all about “community.” Users not only use the app to stay in touch with friends and family, but also to speak with headhunters and colleagues. As such, the software has become a favorite place for companies to stay in touch with fans.
How to Use WeChat to Advertise Your Tourist Attraction
Western countries use a mix of apps to communicate, share pictures, and catch up with the news. China has WeChat, a powerhouse social messaging app that is an essential part of life across the whole country, regardless of age or gender.
Whether it’s purchasing train tickets, chatting with family members, or paying an electricity bill, WeChat is the running water that keeps China moving.
Because of this, your tourism agency should consider WeChat as the fulcrum of your overall marketing strategy; maybe even more so than your website. To get started, you’ll first need to set up an Official Account.
Setting Up a WeChat Official Account to Advertise to Tourists
An Official Account on WeChat is similar to Facebook’s pages or a business account on Instagram.
All Official Accounts can publish articles and videos.
They can also add a tab that displays all the services a company offers. For tourism agencies, this is extremely helpful, as it gives users easy access to all available price packages.
All accounts also have a chat interface.
Trip.com account’s chat interface (above) presents the company’s most recently published articles as well as buttons for making a reservation, special travel offers, and customer service.
Users can also directly message the company via this chat.
While all companies will get the above features, functionality will still depend on whether they choose a Service or Subscription account.
The main differences between these two types are as follows:
#1. Business License
Subscription Accounts cannot be operated without a business licence. Luckily, Service Accounts do not need this.
#2. Accessibility
The type of account you choose will also determine how your articles and notifications are presented.
Service Accounts will appear within a user’s chat messages, while Subscription Accounts will appear as an Official Account.
Each chat takes a user to a similar interface, but notice how the Subscription Account page (Official Account) is a little better organized. All of a company’s recent articles appear together rather than sporadically placed among others.
#3. Publication Frequency
The two types of accounts differ in how frequently a company can publish articles. Subscription Accounts are allowed six articles a day, and Service Accounts only allow eight articles four times a month.
If you don’t think you’ll have enough content to publish every day, a Service Account is a better option.
#4. WeChat Pay Integration
Another aspect to consider is WeChat Pay. WeChat allows users to connect their bank accounts to pay for services in the app and in real life.
Subscription Accounts do not allow businesses to accept payments over WeChat Pay, while Service Accounts do. The latter account can also send coupons to users.
#5. Ads
WeChat Pay may be useful for companies that want to make it easier for customers to pay for trips, especially if they consider placing ads on the app.
You’ll need a business license to have a Subscription Account, and depending on the type of account, the types of ads businesses can place on WeChat will be restricted.
To understand this, let’s define terms related to marketing.
Organic Marketing: Service Accounts will only be capable of doing organic marketing. By this, I mean that you cannot pay for actual ads on WeChat without a business license. However, this doesn’t mean that articles or partnering with an influencer are prohibited.
Organic Marketing + Advertising: Subscription accounts can do organic marketing and pay for ads. (More on WeChat Ads later).
#6. Shops
Another benefit to having WeChat Pay integrated into your account is that it allows customers to purchase items from your gift shop, if you have one.
This is especially useful if your gift shop already has products made in China.
For more information on how to set up an Official Account on WeChat, check out our previous article or video on the subject.
WeChat Search & SEO
As an app packed with content, WeChat has an in-built search engine called WeChat Search.
Whenever a user searches, any Official Account, Mini Program, video, or article related to the key terms will appear. Below, we can see that the search word “travel” is highlighted in green whenever it appears in a title or description.
Whenever you create content, make sure you include the most important terms in the title and description (unless it makes the title too long).
If you hire a native Chinese speaker to help with content, they can use a WeChat Mini Program called WeChat Index to check out what words get more traction. (Nanjing Marketing Group also uses several AI chatbots for this.)
WeChat Index
Besides keywords, WeChat Search ranks content based on the following:
Popularity: Content that has been shared, liked, or commented on will get priority. Note that an article will be judged based on how many people have interacted with it, not on how many followers the related account has.
If a user searches for an article through the “Official Account” chat, they will also have the option to organize by popularity or date of publication.
One advantage that WeChat Search has over other apps and search engines is that it is quicker to recognize new content.
Frequency: Accounts that publish more frequently will be rewarded by appearing in more searches.
User History: WeChat pays attention to an individual’s activity to improve search results.
Friends’ Activity: As a result of WeChat’s recent push to make the app more social, articles that a user’s friends have interacted with will also appear at the top of the “Official Account” interface.
Use WeChat Channels to Make Tourism-Related Videos
Earlier, we saw how users can watch videos on a company’s Official Account. WeChat also has a TikTok-like feature called “Channels.”
WeChat Moments has a simpler interface than TikTok. A user can choose to either watch videos from Official Accounts they follow under the “Following” header, content that friends have liked under “Friends,” or whatever is popular on the app.
WeChat Tourism Ads
As WeChat is used by everyone in China, it’s probably the best app to place ads. Remember: Only Subscription Accounts have this option.
If your tourism agency chooses this option, your commercials can be targeted to users based on behavior, interests, location, age, gender, education, and marital status.
There are several ad options:
- WeChat Moments
- WeChat Articles
- WeChat Channels
- WeChat Mini Programs
WeChat Moments
WeChat Moments is basically the app’s feed.
Users mostly see posts from friends and family, but occasionally, advertisements appear (these include tourist attractions).
Unlike international apps, however, WeChat only shows a user three ads per day.
Here is some other information to consider concerning these ads:
Cost: Ads will be charged per 1,000 impressions (CPM), with the minimum investment being 50,000 RMB. However, costs will also differ based on the city.
Core cities are Beijing and Shanghai. Key cities are first and second-tier cities
It is also possible to pay a minimum of 1,000 RMB per day for real-time bidding.
Expiration: Ads can be placed for a duration of anywhere from two to twenty-eight days. However, if you choose the real-time bidding option, there is more flexibility. Regardless, an individual user will only see an ad for a maximum of 6 hours.
Format: A single post can have up to six photos and a description of up to 40 characters. The size of an ad’s pictures is adjustable. If you decide to use video ads, these can be between 6 and 16 seconds.
Where Do Ads Link To?: Coupons, Official Accounts, Mini Programs, Articles, and off-app websites.
WeChat Articles
While tourism companies can have an impact by writing articles, they can also place ads in pieces published by other accounts.
Format: Article ads can be a simple picture or a short video. They usually appear at the bottom of an article, but Official Accounts that partner with another company occasionally display ads at the top.
A WeChat account advertising Ethiopian coffee
Cost: Like Moments ads, Article ads can follow a CPM or CPC model, with the minimum investment being 50,000 RMB. However, these ads are generally cheaper.
The CPM model is as follows.
However, for these ads, the CPC model is only available for Beijing and Shanghai. For other cities, bidding begins at 0.5 RMB per click.
In general, our clients start from 5,000 RMB and use the standard CPM model.
Where Do Ads Link To: Official Accounts, WeChat stores, and off-app websites.
WeChat Channels Videos
Ads can also be placed within WeChat Channels as short videos.
Cost:
Format: Video ads must be 60 seconds or less. Call-to-action links can be either placed as a button at the bottom of a video or in the comments.
Expiration: Six hours, twelve hours, or twenty-four hours.
Where Do Ads Link To: Official Accounts, Mini Programs, Articles, WeChat Channels, and off-app websites.
WeChat Mini Programs
Sometimes when users open a Mini Program, they will be greeted by an ad.
Ads may also appear after someone has made a purchase using a Mini Program.
Cost: Ads that appear when a user opens a Mini Program use a CPM model, while the second type of ad can be either CPM or CPC. CPM ad costs depend on the city:
- Shanghai and Beijing: 25 RMB,
- First and second-tier cities: 25 RMB
- Other cities: 15 RMB
CPC ads will work with a bidding system for Shanghai and Beijing, while clicks begin at 0.1 RMB in third, fourth, and fifth-tier cities.
Expiration:
Where Do Ads Link To: Official Accounts, Mini Programs, Articles, and websites.
- WeChat Search Ads
Finally, ads will appear in WeChat Search that align with keywords.
Format: Travel companies can select different styles for WeChat Search Ads. Below are a few.
Simple Picture & Text
Video
Video & Text
Article
Cost: Companies usually use a CPM model for WeChat Search ads. The price will depend on many factors, such as audience, but there are some ballpark figures:
- Picture and Text: 30 to 60 RMB
- Video: 80 to 150 RMB
- Interactive Ads: 100 RMB or more
The minimum price for Mini Program ad campaigns is 20,000 RMB.
You can also choose a CPC model that ranges from 1–3 RMB per click or a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) model.
Expiration:
Where Do Ads Link To: Official Accounts, Mini Programs, Articles, off-app websites, brand stores, and WeChat games.
Writing WeChat Articles to Attract Chinese Tourists
WeChat Articles is the only platform that allows accounts to publish written material. Here are some of the types of written content Chinese users engage with.
#1. Use Poetry & Philosophy
One popular article with over 1,000 likes and almost 9,000 shares discusses the top 10 destinations one must travel to in their lifetime. While this subject may seem mundane, the author actually litters it with profound questions, like “what exactly is the reason people travel?” and “what is the purpose of life’s struggles?”
The writer litters the text with quotes from Sushi, a poet from 1,000 years ago: “I grieve at the fleeting moment of my life and envy the endless flow of the Yangtze.”
Therefore, don’t be afraid to include literary quotes in your marketing, not just WeChat articles.
#2. Incorporate Art
WeChat articles don’t need to be text or even real-life photos. Some publications go above and beyond by including hand drawings. Such a style will differentiate your tourism company from the rest.
#3. Everyone Loves Food
Everyone loves food, but in China, the subject is even more important because of the country’s unique regional cuisines. The food tourists have on their trip may be their first encounter with another country’s cooking.
#4. Provide Tips
As a tourism company, your best asset is not just the product you’re selling, but the insider information you have about a place. Use this to your advantage whenever you can. WeChat users love to read articles about how to escape crowds, where to go on a hot day, which locations have the least amount of tourist traps, and answers to similar questions.
#5. Mix in Language Education
Many Chinese citizens who enjoy traveling abroad are also interested in improving their language skills for personal or professional reasons.
There is always an opportunity to mix language education with other industries, like tourism, whether it be short stories about children in Paris or comics about an employee at a specific zoo.
How to Use Douyin to Advertise to Chinese Tourists
For video content, look no further than China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, and if you already use the Western version of this short-video app, you’ll be familiar with its interface and user experience.
Douyin’s User Experience
As a video app, Douyin will play a different role than WeChat in your marketing strategy. Remember, while WeChat does have its video-based Channels features, it is primarily a messaging app.
We can see this in how not every WeChat user is using Channels. In fact, there are more daily active users on Douyin overall.
Not everyone using WeChat is watching videos there. In fact, some may prefer Douyin over WeChat for this, given that it requires more steps to access Channels than opening the Douyin app and instantly seeing a video.
One step on Douyin
Three steps for WeChat
With this in mind, your advertising agency may want to keep your WeChat account as the base for your overall marketing strategy (along with your website). Douyin, on the other hand, acts as a more top-of-funnel tool to initially attract new customers.
This works perfectly because Douyin has a similar user base to WeChat:
However, there are a few key differences. First, women outnumber men by a six-to-four ratio.
Second, Douyin users are based more in China’s first-tier cities.
This should not be a big issue for most tourism companies, as citizens in developed cities tend to travel internationally more than those in smaller places. However, given what we saw earlier with places like Thailand reaching out to third-tier cities, this demographic data could pose a small roadblock.
Nevertheless, another difference your tourism agency should be aware of is who users are primarily interacting with. Since WeChat is for sending messages, it prioritizes a person’s immediate connections (family, friends, and colleagues). Those who come on Douyin are more likely to interact with strangers.
While a Douyin user may send videos to friends on the app, the relationship is generally nowhere near as intimate as WeChat.
The same is true for companies as well. While your tourism agency can pay for ads and further special treatment, your content will appear in the user’s feed as just another video. WeChat Channels is similar, but the setup there is a lot more hierarchical in nature because users will seek out your Official Account for services.
On Douyin, companies are competing more for attention.
This dynamic plays out in the consumption of videos. Douyin promotes content from accounts a user has never seen before a lot more than WeChat, which prioritizes videos that a user’s friends have liked.
See how Douyin (like TikTok) has a “For You” page, while WeChat does not.
Douyin’s interface is practically identical to TikTok. Some of the icons have changed, but their function is the same.
TikTok on the left and Douyin on the right
However, there are some subtle differences. In the Douyin screenshot below, notice there are more options at the top.
There is also “精选” (Specially Selected) and “同城” (Same City). While a strategy for the former should follow a pretty straightforward market strategy based on targeting specific user demographics, the latter may allow your company to try some nuanced approaches.
Remember my advice earlier about taking advantage of sister city arrangements? Perhaps the “Same City” option on Douyin could work here. Reach out to your sister city’s organization and offer to help them create videos advertising their municipality on English-speaking media in exchange for doing the same in China.
For example, Nanjing is partnered with St. Louis in the United States. Perhaps a famous local Missouri chef could make videos about Nanjing duck restaurants for YouTube or Instagram in exchange for a content creator teaching about Miles Davis, a jazz musician who grew up in St. Louis.
Setting Up a Douyin Account
Collaboration is not the only way to succeed on Douyin.
Unfortunately, users without a Chinese phone number are prohibited from opening a Douyin account. By working with an organization in China or utilizing any available sister city arrangements, this problem could be overcome.
Collaborating will not just give your company more credibility to post whatever it needs to—by having an account, you can publish ads.
Douyin Ads
Since Douyin’s primary focus is video content (unlike WeChat’s social messaging), there are a few more advertising options on the app.
For example, ads appear when a user first opens the program. These ads follow a cost-per-time model, and pricing starts at one million RMB.
Ads will also appear while a user is scrolling. For these ads, companies can choose a CPM model where ads are priced on views, or a CPC model based on clicks. Prices will be higher for more specific keywords.
Ads also appear when users search for related keywords, and these follow the same pricing as the ads found while scrolling.
Douyin Search
Your tourism agency may benefit from knowing how Douyin’s search interface and SEO work.
Douyin’s search page resembles TikTok’s, but it has a lot more buttons.
TikTok and Douyin search pages compared
As you can see from the above screenshots, while TikTok’s search page is mostly blank space, Douyin has many rankings.
These lists can be trending topics.
Or popular brands in a specific industry.
One of these industries just happens to be “Hotels & Tourism.”
For any tourism company interested in making content for Douyin, these rankings can be extremely useful. For instance, when creating videos, you may want to incorporate a popular song that is currently trending or clips from popular movies.
Douyin’s SEO
When thinking about Douyin’s SEO, it’s important to remember two of the earlier points concerning how different the app’s user experience is from WeChat’s:
- WeChat has more hierarchy. Users seek out companies.
- WeChat is more social and pushes content that a user’s friends have already interacted with.
On Douyin, tourism companies will be competing with other accounts. To stand out, you’ll need to follow these six SEO factors:
- Account Verticality – Are you sticking to one theme? The more focused your account is, the better the algorithm can figure out who to push your content to.
- Follower Count – More followers generally means more trust in the algorithm’s eyes. More followers will also reinforce users’ image of your company as a spokesperson for a particular country, city, or museum.
- Content Quality – Are people watching, finishing, or rewatching them?
- Content Quantity – It’s not just about one viral hit. The more consistently good content you have, the more Douyin will prioritize your content and account.
- Engagement (Likes, Comments, Shares) – The more people interact with your videos, the more likely Douyin is to push them.
- Livestream Activity – If your account frequently goes live, and those livestreams do well, that gives your whole account a boost.
In fact, because Douyin places the “For You” page front and center, it may be even more important to pay attention to SEO than WeChat Channels, where “Friends” is the first interface one sees upon opening the feature. While every user may appreciate new content from unfamiliar accounts, this format can easily lose the videos of followed accounts within the jungle of Douyin content.
To mitigate this issue, Nanjing Marketing Group has a few tried-and-tested strategies.
For instance, there is the tool DOU+, which allows accounts to purchase more views.
This feature has several different options to choose from, based on a user’s preferences. For example, audiences can be targeted based on demographics or by selecting an account with a fanbase that may enjoy your content.
Luckily for you, this service can cost even less than 100 RMB.
Douyin Competitions
One of the most important aspects of Douyin marketing is the presence of monthly competitions where users are invited to share content related to a specific theme.
During the summer of 2025, one contest asked Douyin users to share videos taken in Zhaoxing, a village with an overwhelmingly ethnic Dong minority population.
If your company manages a place with a rich history and culture, setting up a contest should be easy.
There are always clever ways to do this.
Luoyang, for instance, is one of China’s ancient capitals. Below is a 2025 contest that makes a pun on the second syllable of the city’s name, replacing it with the English word “young” to indicate people in their 20s are welcome to compete.
These campaigns sometimes extend beyond China as well. One tourism company, known as Kaytrip—which runs bus tours in Europe—also asked any customers traveling on one of its buses to make videos or take pictures holding their brand’s mascot.
Douyin is not the only app that holds competitions, however. And the other platform that does, which is next up, is much easier to access outside of China.
How to Use RedNote to Advertise to Chinese Tourists
Launched in 2013, RedNote, otherwise known as Xiaohongshu, is older than Douyin, but it has only really started gaining traction since the pandemic.
Although it has become more widely used, 79% of its monthly active users remain middle-class women who view the app as the go-to place to discover what lifestyles are trending. Because of this, RedNote is seen as a more niche platform, and its users are more brand-conscious.
Tourism agencies looking to advertise within China should consider RedNote as a step above both Douyin and WeChat.
Content on this platform may benefit from collaborations with other companies, especially if your country is known for luxury shopping. Other ideas that will do well could involve
- peaceful getaways,
- spas,
- family activities,
- hotsprings,
- beauty, and
- local cuisine.
Tourism Companies Can Open a RedNote Account From Overseas
Unlike Douyin, RedNote makes it easy to open an account overseas. After downloading the app, you’ll need to enter your phone number and the verification code they send to you.
You can watch Nanjing Marketing Group’s thorough video guide on RedNote account setup here.
RedNote tries to personalize accounts more than WeChat and Douyin. When a user accesses the app for the first time, they’ll be asked to choose what topics interest them.
A few topics that a tourism company could choose to ensure they come into contact with similar types of content are “旅行” (Travel), “食谱” (Recipes), and “时尚穿搭” (Fashion).
I really recommend not skipping this step. By having better access to popular videos related to the right niche, a tourism company will understand what its target market is interested in.
Once you have a basic account, it is a good idea to verify your account so that your page receives a blue checkmark. This will help users trust you more.
You can learn more about RedNote’s verification process here.
RedNote User Experience
RedNote’s user experience is all about “community.” On WeChat, users visit a tourism company’s Official Account for information services, while RedNote places brands at the center of everything, inviting fans to come together to share their love of particular styles or products.
In this way, RedNote creates relationships between strangers based on common interests more than Douyin.
Therefore, RedNote may be the best app to help tourism agencies with no prior branding in China. Keep in mind that companies can eventually build themselves up on Douyin too. Albeit, the algorithm on TikTok makes it easier for accounts to get lost if a user doesn’t interact with them enough.
RedNote places content from channels a user has followed and interacted with closer to the top of the screen more often, thus reinforcing a user’s relationship with another account
This ignores another unique attribute: RedNote’s interface closely resembles the YouTube Short page, where multiple videos are visible.
The pictures above also show another similarity between YouTube and RedNote that WeChat and Douyin lack—RedNote has tabs divided by category.
Unfortunately, none of these tabs include “Travel,” but that shouldn’t put your company off RedNote. In fact, the tab organization may make it easier to keep track of what is trending, so you can refine your content.
Take the “Art” tab, for example. This section is dedicated to users interested in drawing, painting, and similar hobbies. While there are certainly channels devoted to these activities on Douyin and WeChat, a user needs to search for them. RedNote puts this topic in a place where even people not interested in drawing will be more likely to encounter it.
RedNote’s user experience reminds me of older interface styles, even though it still pushes content based on a user’s previous activity.
In the “Art” tab, we can see the benefits of RedNote’s interface design. Many users take their colored pencils on trips and then post videos or pictures of their work.
You can also click on the hashtags some of these videos add to see how popular they are. For example, below is a hashtag related to fake newsletters users have designed about different cities they’ve visited.
There are multiple ways of taking advantage of this system.
First, you could post your own version of a trending hashtag to draw attention to your account. However, be careful. If your pictures appear too polished, you may not only push users away but also hurt the hashtag. Users don’t want to cooperate in something where they know others have an unfair advantage.
Second, you could also start your own creative campaigns where you ask artistic individuals to draw a particular location related to your business. The best artists could even win a free trip. This approach is better than the first because you are not competing with users but instead fostering community on the app.
Speaking of hashtags, another way companies can track what users are interested in on RedNote is by going to the search interface.
At the time of writing this, there is one summer trend where people jump in the air to a soundtrack of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” as the background changes from their apartment to the place they’ve traveled to.
Companies can get creative with their advertising. For example, in July 2025, there was a trend of videos using contrasting colors.
If I were working for a marketing department of a cathedral or castle, especially one surrounded by a beautiful background, I’d certainly hop on this trend!
RedNote SEO
Analysts generally believe that RedNote users search using broad terms first. For tourism, this means that a user preparing for their trip to France is more likely to begin their search by using phrases like “Popular Destinations in France” before narrowing down to “Best Restaurants in Paris.”
Therefore, when posting content on the app, it is recommended that you begin with keywords related to your industry, such as “Travel” and “Summer Vacation,” or just “France,” before typing in more niche terms (more on that later).
It’s also a good idea to put more popular trending topics at the end of your post’s description. Remember that users can tap a hashtag to be taken to a separate interface to see other videos that have used it.
Notice above that some of the videos also have long-form text underneath them. Tourism companies can use this space to discuss information in more detail, especially if they believe it’ll make a video more boring to include it.
Don’t forget to add titles that use keywords. A title is a helpful way for your video to stand out. While titles are important on WeChat and Douyin, they may be more so on RedNote because its interface has more than one video.
Finally, you should also understand the factors impacting a video’s performance after it has been on the app for a while. Some analysts have even speculated that there is a points system.
RedNote’s desire to help smaller accounts compete with larger ones is evident in how it helps these accounts gain more followers by pushing their videos. Indeed, this is one reason your company may prefer this app over Douyin and WeChat initially.
As a company, this preference for assisting smaller accounts may put you off. After all, you’re trying to run a business.
Don’t worry. RedNote is also a business wanting to make money. One way they do this is by offering companies the opportunity to place ads.
How to Advertise a Tourism Company on RedNote
To advertise yourself on RedNote, you’ll need to spend at least 10,000 RMB.
The app’s CPM rates usually range from 15-40 RMB, but the final amount will depend on your target audience and the time of the year.
In terms of CPC, the range is between 5 and 15 RMB. For travel companies that have set up a Chinese website, this may be the better option.
There are two types of RedNote ads your tourism company could use to drive traffic: Newsfeed Ads and Search Ads.
Newsfeed ads appear on the main interface, amongst other videos, and will display a “赞助” (Promotion) label.
Search Ads are commercials that show up in the search results. In the image below, someone searched for travel, and a travel-related ad appeared.
With this said, however, remember that RedNote’s core demographic is young women. Although more men have been joining the app in recent years, it is fair to say that ads on the app directed towards both genders may not be as successful here.
Luckily for you, there is another app you can use to focus on another target audience.
How to Use BiliBili for Tourism Marketing
BiliBili’s main demographic is young adults; therefore, this should be your platform for advertising to college students interested in going on their first international trip. While the target audience here will be more concerned about spending, they may make up for it in terms of curiosity.
Beyond this, because of this young age group, BiliBili’s future is looking brighter than it is now. As its fans get older, will they continue to use the website, even as they enter the workforce and increase their salaries?
As a tourism-related company, now is the time to be setting down a cornerstone for future business opportunities by creating an account on BiliBili.
Making an Account and Registering on BiliBili
BiliBili is like RedNote in that it is very easy to create a profile from abroad. You can access both its app and website from anywhere.
Once you’ve accessed the website, click “登录” (Login) and then “点我注册” (Register).
If you have a WeChat account, you can use that to register. Otherwise, just type in your phone number to get a code.
Verifying your identity is also straightforward and can be done from outside China. As a non-Chinese user, you’ll need to upload a valid ID and a photo of yourself holding it. Conveniently, Bilibili accepts driver’s licenses for this process.
If you want to get more benefits, you can also register as a business account.
Benefits of this type of account:
- Your content ranks higher in search results.
- You receive priority when partnering with other creators.
- You gain access to Bilibili’s ad platform “专车号” (Zhuanche).
Currently, business accounts can be registered by entities from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States.
Before you do this, you may want to become more familiar with BiliBili’s site.
BiliBili’s User Experience
Once you have an account, it’s time to get familiar with a few of Bilibili’s unique features.
Notice how all the accounts below have a level in red (next to the name).
All new accounts begin at “Lv.0.”
If users choose to level up, they’ll be granted the ability to conduct more actions on the site.
To upgrade to level one, you’ll need to register and then take a test, which is in Chinese and consists of 40 questions covering a range of topics related to BiliBili’s culture.
For example, one question asks what the slang term “UP主” means in English.
Once you’ve passed this test, you’ll reach level one and be granted 120 experience points. Now, you’ll be able to comment and interact with other users.
If you fail the test, you’ll need to wait 12 hours to try again. Don’t click another tab or window while taking the test, as it will restart the whole process.
Nanjing Marketing Group can help you get past this step. Although this may seem a bit of a hassle (especially if you don’t speak Chinese), for companies, it’s extremely helpful as it means everyone using the site is a real human and the account is, therefore, more credible.
At this stage, users can gain points daily by just opening the app. Posting content, watching videos, commenting, and liking also earn points. Purchasing VIP mode also gets you points.
Completing the information on your profile is also another easy way to gain points, and another way BiliBili rewards authenticity on the site.
Besides experience points, BiliBili users can acquire coins. These can be used to change your nickname and participate in events. For a tourism company, this isn’t as important, but it’s still something to be aware of.
Once your account has reached level one, you’ll also get coins whenever you log in daily. After you begin posting videos, users will also start to send you coins.
The Chinese characters flying across the screen in the above screenshot are called “bullet comments.” This is also another feature that gets unlocked as the account levels up. (More on how all of this influences the site’s search algorithm later).
BiliBili’s User Interface
BiliBili can be thought of as “China’s answer to YouTube.” Its interface resembles YouTube in that many long-form videos fill the page with several tabs at the top. Users also prefer to watch the website’s content on a computer, although there is also an app version.
If we take a closer look at the category tabs, there may be some options for your tourism company to start gaining attention.
In the first option, “番剧” (cartoon and anime shows), BiliBili users can search for programs and content from other countries (mostly Japan and South Korea), but that may be because animators from elsewhere have not tried putting anything on the site yet.
In our age of increasingly personalized online experiences, have you ever thought about partnering with a local animation studio from your home country? As we saw with the Kazakhstan example earlier, TV shows set in a historical location or specific city can be a way to attract tourists. We could say the same for the manga section of the website.
Then there is the “鬼畜” tab, perhaps the most unique genre on BiliBili. This term comes from the Japanese phrase “Otomaddo,” which roughly translates to “sound madness.” Put simply, these videos are usually a mashup of different clips with distorted voices placed over the top to create something new.
This is similar to how rap music or trip hop artists like DJ Shadow used samples in the 1990s to create something new.
These videos could offer your tourism company a plethora of creative opportunities to advertise yourself in new and comical ways.
For example, one video entitled “旅游” (Trip) from 2021 takes a scene from a 2003 TV show called Conquest, where a man on a scooter gets into a fight with a shop vendor over a watermelon. This video went viral because it remixed the scene to include an extra two minutes where the scooter driver traveled across the world, including the White House lawn and the Great Sphinx of Giza, to buy the watermelon. Other random clips, like a Yu-Gi-Oh! battle and President Biden falling on the stairs were also involved.
Hey, who knows? If you ever choose to use this wacky genre to advertise yourself, you could make a video that cleverly places your tourist site inside a retro TV show or movie scene. Perhaps some Chinese netizens would be more inclined to visit your site to reenact the scene.
BiliBili also has a tab devoted to the art.
Maybe you run a business related to Bali’s traditional dances or manage a ballet theater in New York City. These days, people interested in dancing are always looking for new exotic locations, and that’s perfect for companies that specialize in advertising natural beauty.
Other tabs, like “汽车” (Cars), “绘画” (Art), or “健康” (Exercise), could serve the same purpose. People may get more interested in visiting a location if they see a cool vehicle driving through it or a painting that expresses how a visitor feels while there.
It’s all about product placement.
This one is obvious, but none of the other apps we’ve covered has a tab as dedicated to food as BiliBili. This isn’t just good for restaurants or bakeries. In China, there may be nothing people love more than food, and by showcasing your city’s or region’s cuisine, more netizens will be more interested in visiting.
Maybe you’re a museum with an impressive restaurant. Personally, my favorite museum in the United States is the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Not only because of its exhibits, but also because of the food they served from different regions of the country.
BiliBili could be a good place to start creating interest for places like these, especially if there is little information in Chinese about them.
There is even a tab devoted to animals, which is a broad category, especially considering how often cats and dogs are featured in memes. If someone who works at your company has a pet, you could use the pet in your advertising.
As someone who has lived in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, one subtle difference I’ve noticed is the prevalence or absence of wildlife. Someone growing up in Canada is much more likely to be accustomed to seeing a deer than someone from urban China.
This could be a selling point for villages off the beaten path.
BiliBili favors longer videos more than other apps and features a lot of documentaries. This would be a perfect reason why your tourism company may want to collaborate with a company in China.
In a similar vein, BiliBili has a section devoted to education.
Tourism companies should pay special attention to the subsections related to language, history, and literature education. Many people need to learn a foreign language for their own work, so finding a way to incorporate tourism sites where they’ll actually need to use that skill could be a gateway to getting viewers interested in visiting.
Students trying to improve their language skills or understanding of a foreign culture may be interested in a course related to a famous writer. Many literary giants often wrote about specific places. Could a course on Shakespeare’s Othello be used to encourage interest in Venice, Cyprus, or Spain?
There are also courses on philosophy and art, which are good pathways to finding people already interested in learning about a different culture.
Another difference is that BiliBili has a Twitter-like section where a user can see posts from anyone they follow (another way to interact with potential customers).
Some sections seem to prefer written content over video. Users can post full articles, and there are tons of popular pieces written about travel, with some combining text and video.
We must remember, however, that BiliBili’s initial niche was video games and anime. Even today, one of the top reasons users go to the website is to watch esports competitions.
Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, foreign companies will be able to advertise at these events.
Advertising on BiliBili
Besides being the app for China’s Gen Z, BiliBili is also investing more in its advertising capabilities. This is best seen in how its ad revenue was up 20% (YoY) in the first quarter of 2025, which was above the industry average.
BiliBili supports four billing models:
- CPM
- CPC
- OCPM
- OCPC
Ads can appear between videos.
Underneath livestreams.
Underneath a video.
As a large card.
When a user opens the app.
And in searches.
SEO on BiliBili
Before exploring BiliBili’s internal search features and algorithm, it’s worth mentioning that one overlooked advantage of the video site is that its videos tend to appear first on Baidu (China’s top search engine), at least under the video tab.
WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin videos don’t appear at all.
While social media has certainly eaten into search engines’ lunch in recent years, we shouldn’t count it out entirely.
Turning to search engine optimization on BiliBili itself, there are a few core aspects of the website’s algorithm to consider.
New Videos Get Priority: Once a video is published, it gets a 1.5x boost for 24 hours.
BiliBili Testing Phase: After a video is published, it will have three hours to prove itself. If this video performs well enough, it will then enter a breakout phase.
Completion Rate: Watch rate does not influence BiliBili’s recommendation index, but videos with a higher completion rate correlate with engagement. The website’s algorithm still monitors the retention rate to see if users watch for more than 5 or 30 seconds.
If a video’s completion rate is higher than 40% in the testing phase, it will enter the breakout phase for 7–13 hours.
Clicks: Clicks also matter for getting further exposure.
Engagement: Accounts with followers who frequently engage (and ones that engage in community discussions) get more exposure. This can also involve getting users to share, like, or send coins.
Stick to a Common Theme: Accounts that keep to the same theme do better.
Tourism companies should make their content with all of the above in mind. Always be on the lookout for clever ways to encourage users to perform actions that boost your videos’ visibility.. Content creation is an interactive experience, and a two-way street.
This is no different from YouTube influencers who include an image reminding users to like.
Another way to increase the chances of getting your videos boosted on BiliBili is by paying attention to the search rankings on the site.
Like with many of the other apps we’ve looked at, one of these can be found by tapping the search bar.
When considering ideas for videos to post on BiliBili, this list may come in handy. Content that aligns with what is trending may gain more views.
Additionally, if you click the red flame button at the top left of the screen, you’ll be taken to another page filled with more rankings.
Once there, click on “排名榜” (Rankings) to see a list of buttons based on genre. Each of these will show its respective trending videos.
It’s always a good idea to return to this page to explore what’s trending. For instance, if we click “知识” (Knowledge), we see that one recent popular video is about a giant snake.
Whenever a user watches a video, similar content will appear on the right side of the screen (like on YouTube).
This is a good opportunity to capitalize on trending content. For the above example, this could be your chance to publish a video about your zoo’s snakes. The same could be said if you manage a snake temple in India or want to get Chinese citizens more interested in the importance of Quetzalcoatl to pre-modern Mexico.
The timing of your videos is just as important as the quality or quantity. Sometimes, a single well-placed video can boost an account’s viewership dramatically overnight.
Do Chinese Tourists Use YouTube?
Just because China has its own unique apps doesn’t mean you should disregard ones you’re already familiar with. After all, many Chinese speakers who travel are already living abroad as students or workers.
Just as BiliBili videos appear when a user searches on Baidu, so do YouTube videos show up when someone searches in Chinese on Google. Be sure to use your SEO knowledge of these websites to cater to a Chinese audience.
Collaborating With Influencers to Advertise Your Tourist Destination
In addition to publishing your own content across Chinese social media, there is also the option of working with influencers.
Many accounts across all of China’s apps talk about travel.
Tourism also involves other industries such as restaurants and fashion. This gives you an unlimited number of opportunities to get creative with your marketing.
There’s always a RedNote user wanting to model at a historic or popular location.
Or a food account focusing on foreign cuisine.
The trick with influencer marketing is not to focus too much on an account’s followers. Sometimes, a lesser-known user may be more niche and will have a better audience that’s more inclined to be interested in visiting your site.
WeChat influencer account posting videos of Central Asia
China’s evolving higher education system is something to take advantage of. An increasing number of international students are now studying in China, and many of these students discuss their lives in both places on social media.
For English-speaking countries accustomed to international students, this may not seem like a big deal. However, many Chinese students still do not have a lot of authentic interaction with people from other countries.
By partnering with these students or anyone else from your country living in China (or who can speak the language), it will be easier to build trust with an audience already interested in learning about another culture.
What are the Top Travel Websites in China?
Like in any other country, Chinese tourists often get their travel information from the websites they use to book hotels and transportation. Below are the top five:
- Ctrip
- Qunar
- Fliggy
- Tuniu
- Mafengwo
As we can see, TripAdvisor and Booking.com can not be found here. In fact, they currently stand at 10th place and lower. Therefore, if you’re a hotel or popular tourism destination, you should at least have a working understanding of the above Chinese apps.
Ctrip
Also known as Ctrip within China, this app plays a starring role in the country’s tourism industry with over 400 million registered users.
Users can access the company’s services through its website, app, or WeChat Mini Program.
The app and Mini Program are practically the same.
One difference between the website and apps, however, is that ads for international travel are more hidden. When searching for hotels, places based outside China won’t appear unless a user clicks the corresponding “International” tab.
On the other hand, Ctrip’s apps have taken on a social media appearance. Users can create profiles and share pictures related to their travel experiences. Ads are often dispersed in between.
Additionally, ads often appear whenever a user opens Ctrip’s main app.
An ad for flights to Malaysia
Users who have used the company before will be shown ads based on their previous behavior on the app.
Qunar
Ctrip actually holds a 45% stake in Qunar, although the latter still operates independently. Qunar’s business model prioritizes comparing prices to help cost-conscious travelers save money. Many travelers will come to this app after first checking prices for the same hotel on Ctrip.
If you want to attract more students or families from smaller cities, this could be the platform for you.
While the app’s interface is very similar to Ctrip’s, upon closer inspection, this preference for cost-saving becomes visible.
For example, the “Travel” tab on the main page has other buttons related to group trips and saving money.
Fliggy
Launched by Alibaba in 2017, Fliggy’s trump card is that it is better integrated with Alipay, one of China’s top mobile payment apps. Partially due to the data it has utilized from this connection, Fliggy has become the number one-ranked app for independent outbound trips.
Therefore, although this app is in third place, your tourism agency should still consider it for your marketing strategy. Remember that the Chinese population is big, so most citizens have never left the country. (This means that an app catering towards international travel may be more niche anyway.)
Users like this company because it follows a “buy now, pay later” model that allows purchasers seven days post-flight to pay for their full trip. Fliggy also offers free rescheduling and instant refunds.
Additionally, Fliggy has partnerships with several international airlines, which have allowed it to offer 20% cheaper hotel plus flight tickets to users.
Compared with the other two apps, Fliggy’s ads are a little more in your face.
The company’s app resembles Ctrip’s, with a space that displays reviews and pictures of other users’ trips.
Like with Qunar, certain features reveal Fliggy’s focus on international travel. For example, there is a “Day Trip” tab that helps users find well-priced short-term trips.
Contact Nanjing Marketing Group
Hopefully, this guide has helped your tourism agency answer some of its questions about marketing in China.
Just remember, the hardest part about all of this is getting yourself set up on these apps.
When it comes to content creation, choose a country you’ve never been to and ask yourself what aspects of it you’d be interested in learning, then start posting videos and articles, and see what sticks.
If you have any questions about account setup, partnering with influencers, or the type of content you should be producing, don’t hesitate to set up a free consultation.