To attract Chinese tourists today, a hotel needs to be visible on Xiaohongshu (RedNote) and Chinese booking platforms, easy to pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay, and built around experiences rather than rooms alone. The old playbook of kettles, slippers and congee still helps on property, but it no longer wins the booking. Chinese travelers decide where to stay long before they arrive, on their phones, in Chinese.

This guide covers who is traveling now, what they want, and the practical steps hotels and resorts can take, with sources for every number.

The market you are competing for

Chinese outbound travel has largely recovered. The China Tourism Academy’s annual outbound report, published in May 2026, says outbound trips in 2025 came close to the 2019 level, roughly one outbound trip for every ten citizens. In October 2026, Liu Xiangyan of the China Tourism Academy said outbound trips are expected to exceed 165 million in 2026, passing 2019, according to China Daily.

The spending side matters more for hotels. A forecast from China Trading Desk, shared with Skift, puts Chinese outbound spending at $280 billion in 2026, with $85 billion of that on accommodation. That makes lodging the single largest category in the forecast.

The mix of where that money goes is shifting, though. On Trip.com Group’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call, executive chairman James Liang said higher travel costs weighed more on long-haul demand and pushed travelers toward shorter-haul destinations (Nasdaq). Short-haul Asia is the volume market. Long-haul destinations have to work harder for each guest and win on value, uniqueness and ease.

What today’s Chinese travelers want

The group tourist of the 2010s, with a flag, a bus and a shopping itinerary, is no longer the main audience. Recent research points to a different traveler.

• Smaller groups and more control. In Dragon Trail’s survey of 315 Chinese travel agents (December 2025), small and private group tours were the most-sold product type, cited by 64% of agents. Customized and luxury travel was sold by 58%. Classic group tours have not disappeared, but they are no longer the growth story.

• Experiences and food over shopping. In Dragon Trail’s March 2026 consumer survey of 1,038 travelers, 56% planned to spend more on activities and experiences and 49% planned to spend more on dining. Travelers aged 18 to 24 showed the strongest intent to spend more across categories, including accommodation.

• Safety, visas and flights first. The same agent survey found safety has an “extreme impact” on destination choice for 79% of agents, followed by visa-free policies (57%) and direct flights (52%). Destination demand can swing quickly when any of these change. After a diplomatic dispute in late 2025 halved flight capacity from China to Japan, Japan’s safety rating in Dragon Trail’s tracking dropped to its lowest point since pandemic restrictions ended.

• Short booking windows. 47% of the agents said clients book less than two weeks before departure, and another 33% said two weeks to one month. Your offer needs to be live and bookable when the decision is made, not only during a long planning cycle.

• Rest and wellness. Relaxation was the top reason for outbound travel over the May 2026 holiday, and most respondents were open to adding spa, hot spring or nature-based wellness experiences to a trip.

Sources for the figures above: Dragon Trail Chinese Outbound Travel Trade Survey, January 2026 and Dragon Trail Chinese Traveler Sentiment Report, April 2026.

1. Be findable on Xiaohongshu

If you do one thing, do this. In Dragon Trail’s April 2026 sentiment report, RedNote (Xiaohongshu) was the top source of outbound travel information, cited by 53% of respondents, ahead of Douyin and online travel agencies such as Ctrip. Natural scenery content was the most influential type of social content for inspiring a trip.

That means a Chinese traveler will often search your destination or your hotel’s name on Xiaohongshu before they ever see your website. What they find there shapes the decision:

• An official professional account with a verified profile, so your hotel has a home on the platform and can run ads.

• Notes that answer real questions: which room type has the best view, how to get there from the airport, what the breakfast looks like, which experiences are worth booking.

• Guest and creator content that appears when people search your name, because travelers trust other travelers more than brand posts.

• Ads that point to a package, not just a pretty photo, so interest turns into an inquiry.

We cover account setup, content and budgets in detail in our Xiaohongshu marketing playbook for hotels. For a sense of what paid campaigns can return, one Bali resort we worked with spent about $2,750 on RedNote ads around Chinese New Year and generated roughly $52,000 in bookings; the full breakdown is in this case study.

2. Show up where they book

Inspiration happens on social media. Booking mostly happens on Chinese platforms.

• Trip.com and Ctrip. Trip.com Group runs Ctrip for Chinese users and Trip.com internationally. Check that your property is listed on Ctrip, not only on Trip.com, with Chinese-language descriptions, current photos and the right room names. Respond to Chinese reviews.

• Fliggy. Alibaba’s travel platform, which links to travelers’ Alipay and Taobao accounts.

• AI assistants. Chinese travelers increasingly ask AI tools to plan and book. Trip.com said AI-assisted orders through its TripGenie assistant rose about 400% year over year in Q2 2026, and nearly 60% of TripGenie interactions were booking-related (Nasdaq). Platforms like Doubao and Fliggy are moving the same way, which we wrote about in Chinese travelers now book hotels through AI chat.

AI tools and OTAs both rely on structured, accurate information. Clear Chinese-language details on rooms, prices, location, transfers and policies make it more likely your hotel is recommended and booked.

3. Make payment easy

Chinese travelers are used to paying with their phones. Alipay and WeChat Pay are the defaults at home, and both have expanded overseas acceptance. Ant Group says its cross-border network, Alipay+, connects 1.8 billion users with 150 million merchants in more than 100 markets (Hangzhou government news, February 2026).

For a hotel, this means:

• Accept Alipay and WeChat Pay at the front desk, restaurant, spa and shop. Many payment providers and card acquirers can add them.

• Offer a prepayment or deposit option that works with these wallets, especially for direct bookings that start on Xiaohongshu or WeChat.

• Show the logos at check-in and on your Chinese-language materials, so guests do not need to ask.

Paying should never be the step where a Chinese guest gives up.

4. Sell experiences, not just rooms

With most travelers planning to spend more on activities and dining, the room is now the base, not the product. Package what makes your property and destination different:

• A chef’s table, a local market tour or a cooking class.

• Wellness rituals that use local ingredients or traditions.

• Photo-worthy moments: sunrise breakfast, a private beach dinner, a hike with a guide who knows the best viewpoints.

• Family programs, since families with children were the top Chinese New Year segment in Dragon Trail’s agent survey (52%).

Give each experience a clear name, a price and a booking route. Content about specific experiences also performs better on Xiaohongshu than general hotel photos, because it answers the question “what will I actually do there?”

Avoid over-explaining culture. Today’s travelers want access and authenticity, not a lecture.

5. Build for small groups and short lead times

The shift toward small and private groups changes what you sell to Chinese travel agencies and how you price it.

• Create packages for two to six people, such as connecting rooms, private transfers and a private dinner, that agencies can resell as private tours.

• Keep inventory live for last-minute bookings. With nearly half of agents reporting bookings inside two weeks of departure, closing out allotments too early costs you guests.

• Work with agencies through FAM trips and small events. Agents in Dragon Trail’s survey rated FAM trips (49%), small offline events (37%) and online livestreams or presentations (36%) as the most useful ways to learn about destinations, ahead of large trade shows (32%).

6. Get the on-property basics right

The classic amenities still matter. They are just the floor, not the strategy.

• Chinese-language touchpoints: a translated welcome note, room information, breakfast menu and key safety information. A WeChat contact for guest questions is often more useful than an email address.

• Staff who can help: at least one Mandarin speaker on key shifts, or a reliable translation workflow.

• Small comforts: a kettle, tea, slippers and a few familiar breakfast items. Guests notice when these are missing.

• Reliable Wi-Fi, so guests can post, navigate and stay in touch with family.

Guests who feel looked after write the notes and reviews that bring the next guests.

7. Plan around the Chinese calendar

Chinese outbound travel peaks around a few public holidays, and campaigns need to start weeks before each one.

Short booking windows mean the final two to three weeks before each holiday are when ads and agency offers do the most work. Long-haul destinations should consider starting earlier.

A checklist for your hotel

FAQ

What do Chinese tourists look for in a hotel?

Chinese tourists look for a hotel that feels safe, easy and worth sharing. In practice that means a strong location, good reviews on Chinese platforms, Chinese-language information, mobile payment and experiences they can book on site. Younger travelers care about photogenic spaces and food. Familiar comforts such as a kettle and slippers still help, but they rarely decide the booking on their own.

How do Chinese tourists book hotels abroad?

Most Chinese tourists book hotels abroad through Chinese platforms such as Ctrip (Trip.com) and Fliggy, or through travel agencies for private and small-group tours. A growing share now use AI assistants: Trip.com said AI-assisted orders on its TripGenie assistant rose about 400% year over year in Q2 2026. Direct bookings often start with an inquiry on Xiaohongshu or WeChat.

Which social media do Chinese tourists use to plan trips?

Xiaohongshu (RedNote) is the main one. In Dragon Trail’s April 2026 survey, 53% of Chinese travelers named it as their top source of outbound travel information, ahead of Douyin and OTAs such as Ctrip. Travelers use it to search destinations and hotel names, compare rooms and read other travelers’ honest reviews before booking.

Do Chinese tourists still travel in tour groups?

Some do, but the growth is in smaller groups and independent travel. In Dragon Trail’s survey of Chinese travel agents, small and private group tours were the most-sold product (64%) and 49% said they grew fastest in 2025. For Chinese New Year 2026, agents expected private or small-group tours to lead at 55%, ahead of traditional group tours at 27%.

When is the best time to market to Chinese tourists?

Start six to ten weeks before each major Chinese holiday: Chinese New Year (6 February in 2027), May Day (1 to 5 May), the summer holidays and National Day Golden Week (1 to 7 October). Keep ads running into the final two weeks, because many Chinese travelers book late. Dragon Trail found 47% of agents see clients book less than two weeks before departure.

What this means for your hotel

Attracting Chinese tourists is now mostly a visibility problem. The travelers are coming, and they are spending more on experiences and dining, but they choose hotels inside a Chinese digital ecosystem that most international properties barely appear in. Hotels that show up on Xiaohongshu, list properly on Chinese booking platforms, accept Chinese payment methods and package clear, bookable experiences will win a bigger share of that demand. BWB helps hotels, resorts and destinations, including AYANA Bali and The Set Collection, reach Chinese travelers. If you want to know how visible your property is to Chinese travelers today, request a free visibility audit.