7 Insights on Chinese Tourism from WTM 2025

With an estimated 45,000 attendees, World Travel Market (WTM) London is one of the most important annual events on the travel trade calendar. At the 2025 exhibition, Dragon Trail met with dozens of travel trade professionals from every continent, representing both established and emerging markets, to discuss Chinese tourism. Here are some of the insights about the Chinese market that our conversations this year underscored.

1) Chinese tourists are seeking value, but they’re not cheap
There is strong consensus among those who know the Chinese market well that value for money is now a top priority for Chinese travelers (this has also come up in Dragon Trail’s consumer research). Speaking on a WTM conference session about the Chinese outbound tourism market, Trip.com Group’s Managing Director and Vice President of International Markets Boon Sian Chai, stressed that Chinese travelers “are not cheap – they spend, but they look for value.”

Chai’s fellow panelist and President of APAC Markets at the Saudi Tourism Authority, Alhasan Aldabbagh agreed that Chinese visitors are interested “not in cheap packages, but in value.” Actually, Chinese travelers to Saudi Arabia have the highest spend per day of any international market, said Aldabbagh. Elsewhere at WTM, exhibitors also emphasized the continued high spending power of Chinese tourists. In the Maldives, Mohamed Muslih from Crown and Champa Resorts said that Chinese guests prefer “the fanciest” of the resorts in their collection, with the most luxurious accommodations and particularly the undersea restaurant at Hurawalhi Island Resort.

2) Young families are strong spenders
Another characteristic of the market in the Maldives, says Muslih, is that Chinese guests don’t like age restrictions designating certain resorts or parts of resorts as adults-only or only for teenagers and older, since family travelers are so central to Chinese tourism to the Maldives – during Chinese New Year 2025, families made up 65% of OTA Tuniu’s travelers there.

Family travelers are the core of the Chinese market for several luxury accommodations we spoke to in the UAE as well. Both Fidrose Malik, Assistant Director of Sales & Marketing at the Grand Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Residences Emirates Pearl, and John Raffoul, General Manager of Cheval Maison, luxury serviced apartments at The Palm, Dubai, said that younger families and FITs stood out as the Chinese visitor demographics they see most. An August 2025 report from Chinese travel agency GZL Travel also highlighted the UAE as a leading outbound travel destination for millennial parents.

(Read more about the high-spending Chinese family travel market here)

3) Social media buzz makes a big impact
Tourism boards around the world all understand the vital importance of Chinese social media. Faruk Çaluk from the Sarajevo Tourism Board explained that in the past, Chinese travelers all knew his city from the wildly popular 1972 film, Walter Defends Sarajevo (read more about that here). But they can no longer rely on this inspiration for younger Chinese generations and are now focusing on “warm storytelling on social media.” Robin Johnson, Global Marketing Director at VisitBritain, also described the emphasis on social media as a transition: “We’ve moved from selling itineraries to inspiring journeys,” he shared.

One standout example of the impact of social media – and celebrity partnerships – on Chinese tourism comes from Abu Dhabi. Journey Feng, Senior Marketing Manager at Reem Mall in Abu Dhabi, credits Chinese actress Liu Yifei as truly putting the emirate on the map for many Chinese visitors. In Q3 2025, videos with Liu Yifei took the Abu Dhabi tourism board to the top of our DMO rankings for Weibo, and it also ranked among the top five DMO accounts on RedNote and top 10 on WeChat. The Trip.com Group reported a 229% year-on-year increase in reservations for Abu Dhabi during the 2025 October National Day holiday, and Feng says this is absolutely connected to Liu Yifei’s role as a spokesperson.

In Indonesia, it’s not just one celebrity but hundreds of influencers and regular travelers who have made Mount Bromo – an active volcano in East Java – viral on Chinese social media. Several Indonesian travel professionals we spoke to mentioned Mount Bromo as the most popular destination in the country for young Chinese FITs and group travelers alike.

4) The market is maturing
“New markets tend to start behaving like mature markets after a while,” pointed out Chris Crampton, Chairman of PATA UK and Ireland, reflecting that the days when 80% of Chinese tourists to the UK went to Bicester Village shopping outlets might be on their way out. A pronounced shift in spending from shopping to experiences is part of this. According to Turespaña, Chinese traveler numbers to Spain and average daily spending have both surpassed pre-pandemic levels. But leading Spanish department store El Corte Inglés has not yet recovered its pre-pandemic Chinese tourism spend, says Isabella Martin, Head of South East Asia, Korea & Japan International Customer. One reason for this is the decline in group travel, she reflects.

UK attractions again highlight some of the significant changes in how Chinese are traveling now. At Royal Museums Greenwich in London, Senior Travel Trade Manager Andrea Larotella admits he was worried earlier this year by a drop in Chinese group bookings. But “what we lost in groups, we gained in FITs” he says, with overall Chinese visitor numbers up by the end of the summer. English Heritage attractions have seen a similar shift from group to independent Chinese travel, as well as a very significant decrease in Chinese tour group size from 50-60 pre-pandemic, to around 15 people on average now. Despite smaller groups, ticket sales to Chinese visitors “have far surpassed” pre-COVID numbers, says English Heritage Travel Trade Account Manager, Michelle Brown.

5) Chinese tourists are looking for authenticity
What are Chinese tourists looking for from their international trips? Robin Johnson from VisitBritain says it’s something “unique and distinctive”, with filming locations a particular draw for the UK. For the Saudi Tourism Authority’s Alhasan Aldabbagh, it’s “cultural, authentic, great moments.” This includes experiences like spending a day with a Saudi family, or desert stargazing with a storyteller who can explain Arabic poetry and how it connects to astronomy. A panel organized by the Pacific Asian Travel Association (PATA) including the tourism boards of Nepal and Sarajevo also emphasized the growing importance of authenticity for the Chinese market – indeed, this has been a major buzzword for young Chinese travelers domestically as well as internationally in the post-COVID era.

6) Young Chinese are embracing the goth aesthetic
Related to both social media and travel photography, as well as unique and special experiences, Whitby Goth Weekend has recently been embraced by young Chinese, says Michelle Brown from English Heritage. In a new and somewhat surprising development, she says, these visitors to Whitby – and English Heritage site Whitby Abbey – are enthusiastic about getting dressed up for the twice-yearly festival in the seaside town depicted in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

On the other side of the world, Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations recently made headlines in Chinese travel media for their popularity with young Chinese, too. Again, these visitors are attracted to the event for its photo-worthy aesthetics, cultural value, and excitement of participation.

7) Don’t underestimate Chinese expats
Chinese who are already living and working abroad can be an important market not just because of the custom they bring directly, but also because of their potential to influence visitors through social media and offline word of mouth. While Reem Mall in Abu Dhabi is also engaged in trade and consumer marketing to international Chinese travelers, their primary focus now is the local Chinese market. Senior Marketing Manager Journey Feng has a strong network of Chinese expats in Abu Dhabi already, and shares information about the mall and its promotions with them through WeChat groups – a highly effective direct marketing channel. At The Cradle Hotels and Lodges in Turkana, Kenya, CEO Wanjiku Ndungu says that the Chinese visitors they receive – who primarily come for tilapia sport fishing – are divided between Chinese tourist groups traveling around Kenya, and Chinese who are in the area to work on construction projects, since they also like to do excursions for tourism activities.

Whether you’re just entering the market or want to update your strategy for 2026 and beyond, Dragon Trail can support you with marketing solutions to reach Chinese consumers and the Chinese travel trade, including social media, events, representation, and online resources for the travel trade. Please get in touch to learn more.