Speaking with international hoteliers during the recent Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Wu said that in recent years, the Chinese tourism industry has undergone profound transformations driven by the explosive growth of Chinese social media and shifting consumption patterns among younger generations.
Emerging travel trends like “reverse tourism” (eschewing popular destinations for lesser-known locales) and “marathon-style check-ins” (rapid, densely packed itineraries) have gone viral on platforms like Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese counterpart) and Xiaohongshu (Red Note), reshaping how Chinese travellers explore the world.
Against this backdrop, global hoteliers face a critical question: how can they capture opportunities in China’s dynamic, fast-evolving market?
Dida’s Chinese outbound tourism team at Dida cites three important factors:
B2B competition: from ‘middlemen’ to ‘direct connections’
The traditional advantage of travel agencies — leveraging information asymmetry — is fading. Customized and independent travellers now connect directly with brands via social media. While China’s outbound travel demand surged 60% year-over-year in 2024, traffic sources have shifted from traditional channels to content platforms like Douyin (TikTok Chinese Version) and Xiaohongshu (Rednote). For example, a Shanghai-based travel agency saw a 170% month-on-month increase in brand searches and a 92% boost in customer acquisition after running targeted Xiaohongshu campaigns.
Hotel competition moves upstream: from ‘price wars” to “emotional battles”
At the discovery stage of the travel planning lifecycle the market is progressively observing a shift away from hotel marketing via search engines and OTA listings to the ‘content seeding stage’ of consumer decision-making. Hashtags like #Citywalk and #ReverseTourism have garnered over 100 billion views on Douyin and Xiaohongshu, with users increasingly swayed by influencer travel vlogs and brand storytelling. According to Dida, 74.3% of travellers rely on short videos for travel inspiration and discovery, and 53% are engaged by what social media influencers post online.
“Brands now use authentic, relatable content to break through on social media and funnel traffic into private communities for exclusive offers and travel itinerary planning” said Xu Langui, Dida’s Regional Head for China.
Consumption drivers: From ‘functional needs’ to ‘emotional value’
In terms of travel discovery via social media, younger Chinese travellers are increasingly no longer settling for ‘comfortable stays’ but rather seeking out the latest, most novel trends or searching for more unusual ‘off-the-beaten track’ destinations. During the 2024 Lunar New Year, bookings surged for trips to chase the Northern Lights or explore niche cities. “Emotional value has become the core driver of consumption. Users prefer brands that resonate with their aspirations,” noted Langui.
To help hoteliers address these changes, Dida has developed two key services – Deep Client Insights as well as an integrated marketing & sales model.
Jihai Kim, Vice President Global Sales at ONYX Hospitality, said, “Through Dida’s ‘integrated marketing-sales strategy,’ we’ve achieved a closed-loop transition from brand exposure to sales conversion. Since collaborating with Dida, our market share in China has grown year over year, fully demonstrating the synergistic effects of Dida’s localized operations and digital marketing. Moving forward, we look forward to deepening data-driven refined operations with Dida, particularly in tapping incremental opportunities within niche markets, to continuously strengthen our brand’s competitiveness in China.”
Noted Wu, “There are 1.4 billion social media users and there’s a whole range of platforms they are on, but you must unify this scattered digital traffic landscape into a cohesive strategy – those that do this, telling stories that appeal to Chinese cultural needs and views, will be the real winners over the next few years, whilst those that don’t may very likely miss out”.
by WiT
