On January 2nd, Turkey dropped visa requirements for Chinese passport holders.

Within 24 hours, searches for "Turkey Travel" on RedNote (aka Xiaohongshu) jumped 500%. And early indicators show a 400% spike in Turkey-bound flight searches within hours of the announcement.

That's not a typo. A 5x spike in one day.

If you're a hotelier in Turkey, and you're wondering what that means for your property, you're asking the right question.

Data Source: New Rank, a data company

The visa-free policy removes the biggest friction point for Chinese travelers, who can now stay 90 days without any paperwork.

Chinese outbound tourism is already performing strongly (Turkey welcomed 410,000 Chinese visitors in 2024—up 65% from the year before) and it's accelerating as more countries remove visa restrictions.

The Philippines and Brazil announced similar measures this month, joining a wave of destinations competing for Chinese travelers, who made 128 million international trips in 2024.

To understand the potential impact, look at Thailand. When they introduced permanent visa-free entry in March 2024, Chinese arrivals hit 6.73 million by year's end—a whopping 92% increase.

The pattern is consistent: remove visa barriers, and Chinese travel demand follows quickly.

The Digital Discovery Gap

Here's where it gets interesting for hoteliers. Chinese luxury travelers are big spenders—nearly half budget over $3,500 per trip, and most prioritize 4-star properties and above. Luxury travel with themes like wellness and sports has been growing exponentially.

But there's a fundamental problem with how they research and book.

China's internet infrastructure means they can't access Instagram or Google, because these platforms are either blocked, and the websites hosted outside China are painfully slow to load.

Instead, Chinese travelers live on two platforms: RedNote (aka Xiaohongshu, think Instagram with Yelp and Tripadvisor integration) for discovery, and WeChat (think WhatsApp Business) for everything else—communication, bookings, payments.

When that 500% search spike happened on Xiaohongshu, those weren't idle browsers. Those were travelers actively researching where to stay and which properties understand their needs.

All You Need: The Essential Two

Properties that have cracked the Chinese market in Bali, Mauritius, and Thailand follow a similar playbook: meet travelers where they already are. The most essential places are Xiaohongshu and WeChat.

On Xiaohongshu, any content, from authentic moments to beautiful brand marketing, that can provide multi-dimensional information to prime Chinese travelers for their next travel destination, will always be favored by the algorithm.

Advertising isn't optional—it's essential. The platform restricts sharing external links in organic posts. Paid advertising lifts these restrictions, letting you convert discovery into inquiry. (Benchmark: With $500 monthly ad spend, hotels typically generate 30-50 qualified inquiries.)

WeChat functions like WhatsApp Business, where the entire sales journey happens with a real person.

This matters because, unlike automated booking engines, real conversations let you upsell human experiences, answer specific questions about accessibility or dietary needs, and customize packages based on what travelers mention they care about.

It has built-in auto-translation, so language barriers aren't the obstacle you'd expect. This human touch builds trust that converts at significantly higher rates than impersonal booking forms.

Critically, these are direct connections—no OTAs like Booking.com or Ctrip taking a big commission and keeping customer information secret. Better margins, full control over the guest experience, and you own the customer data.

Where This Is Going

The 500% search spike isn't a one-day story. It signals demand that's been waiting for the visa barrier to fall. With flight capacity increasing, the infrastructure is falling into place for sustained growth.

The question for Turkish hoteliers isn't whether Chinese travelers will come—they're already searching, planning, booking. The question is whether your property will be visible when they look, and whether you'll be able to communicate in ways that actually work.

The properties that establish their presence in the next 90 days will define how Chinese travelers perceive Turkish hospitality for years to come. The ones that wait will be playing catch-up in a market where early movers already own the keywords, the algorithm, and the trust.

Q: Where will you be? 🔸

Originally published on Brands Without Borders Newsletter. Sign up here.