Australia is the most desired destination for Chinese tourists for 2023

Do you know how much Chinese tourists spend on average when they visit Australia. The answer is around AUD 7,800 per trip, making Chinese visitors the highest-spending international tourists in the country by a wide margin. In 2025, Australia welcomed back over 670,000 Chinese visitors, and every projection for 2026 points higher. The Chinese market did not just recover after COVID. It came back hungrier, more independent, and more willing to spend on quality experiences. If your Australian tourism business is not actively pursuing Chinese guests right now, you are leaving real money on the table.

Where the Numbers Stand in 2025-2026

Before COVID, China was Australia’s largest inbound tourism market. Arrivals peaked at 1.4 million in 2019, generating AUD 12.4 billion in visitor spending. The pandemic years wiped that out, but recovery has been strong. In 2024, Chinese arrivals reached approximately 580,000. In 2025, the figure climbed to 670,000-plus, and Tourism Australia projects that 2026 will approach or exceed the 2019 peak for the first time.

These are not just tourists passing through. Chinese visitors to Australia stay longer (average 22 nights vs. 9 nights for other international visitors), spend more per day, and are increasingly traveling as FIT (free independent travelers) rather than in tour groups. This shift is significant. It means they are making their own decisions about where to stay, what to eat, and what to experience, and they are making those decisions based on Ctrip, Mafengwo, Douyin, and WeChat content.

For you as a tourism operator, this is the right moment to get in front of them directly. Group tour operators are no longer the gatekeepers they once were.

Where Chinese Tourists Go in Australia

Sydney remains the top destination, drawing Chinese tourists with the Opera House, Darling Harbour, duty-free shopping, and a large established Chinese-Australian community that makes first-time visitors feel welcome. Melbourne is close behind, known for its food culture, laneways, and proximity to the Great Ocean Road.

But the picture is changing. Queensland is growing fast, with the Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef attracting younger Chinese travelers who want nature and adventure experiences alongside beach relaxation. Wine regions like the Barossa Valley, Margaret River, and Hunter Valley are drawing increasing interest from affluent Chinese tourists in their 30s and 40s. The Outback and Tasmania remain niche but aspirational, regularly appearing in KOL content on Douyin and Xiaohongshu as “off the beaten path” Australia.

What this tells you is that Chinas biggest tourism trend for Australia is diversification. Chinese visitors are no longer just coming for the cities and the shopping. They want real Australian experiences, and they are willing to travel further to get them.

The Right Platforms for Australian Businesses Targeting Chinese Tourists

Three platforms are essential if you want to reach Chinese travelers planning a trip to Australia.

Ctrip (携程) is China’s leading travel booking platform with over 400 million registered users. It is where Chinese travelers search for flights, hotels, tours, and activities in Australia. Being listed on Ctrip, with Chinese-language descriptions, accurate pricing, and photos, is the minimum baseline for any serious Australian operator targeting this market. Ctrip also has a review system that Chinese travelers trust deeply, so positive guest reviews there carry real weight.

Mafengwo (马蜂窝) which is Chinas TripAdvisor has 200 million users and is where longer, more detailed travel advice lives. User-generated content on Mafengwo about Australian destinations, including honest reviews of specific hotels, tours, and restaurants, drives significant consideration among FIT travelers. Getting your property featured in Mafengwo posts (through KOL partnerships or encouraging guests to post) is a high-value strategy.

Douyin is where emotional discovery happens. Short videos showing the Great Barrier Reef at sunrise, kangaroos at dawn, or a hidden vineyard lunch perform extremely well with Chinese audiences who are dreaming about future trips. A consistent Douyin presence, or a partnership with a Chinese travel KOL, creates the “I want to go there” feeling that turns into Ctrip searches a few weeks later.

For more on how to build a full China marketing strategy for your Australian business, check our guide on attracting Chinese tourists.

Practical Steps Australian Operators Should Take Right Now

The basics matter more than most operators realize. Here is a checklist of what moves the needle:

• Accept Alipay and WeChat Pay. Chinese tourists expect these payment methods. Many will not book if they are not available.
• List your property or experience on Ctrip and Mafengwo with Mandarin descriptions and current photos
• Set up a WeChat official account so you can communicate with Chinese guests and handle inquiries in Mandarin
• Create a simple WeChat mini program for direct booking if you can. It dramatically improves conversion from Chinese visitors who prefer not to use foreign booking platforms
• Encourage Chinese guests to post on Mafengwo and Xiaohongshu. A gentle reminder at checkout or a small incentive can generate lasting user-generated content
• Train your front desk staff to say basic Mandarin greetings. It costs nothing and creates a genuinely warm first impression

Key Trends for 2026

• FIT (free independent traveler) bookings from China now represent over 60% of Chinese arrivals in Australia, up from 40% pre-COVID
• Chinese tourists under 35 are the fastest-growing segment, with a strong preference for nature, food, and “authentic local” experiences
• Douyin WeChat and Little Red Book are essential for discovery-to-booking conversion among Chinese travelers considering Australia
• WeChat mini programs with Mandarin booking flows show 40-60% higher conversion than English-language booking pages for Chinese users
• Mafengwo UGC (user-generated content) is now one of the top trust signals for Chinese tourists choosing accommodation in Australia
• Alipay and WeChat Pay acceptance has moved from “nice to have” to a real booking barrier when absent
• Regional Australia (Tasmania, wine regions, Outback) is growing faster than Sydney and Melbourne in terms of Chinese traveler interest

What Philip Chen Says

“Australia has one of the strongest destination reputations in China. The challenge is not awareness, it is conversion. Many Australian operators are missing the basic infrastructure: no WeChat Pay, no Ctrip listing, no Mandarin content. Chinese travelers want to book directly and communicate in their own language. The operators who fix those basics first will capture a disproportionate share of this market. I also tell my Australian clients to invest in Mafengwo. One great user review post from a Chinese traveler with 50,000 followers can generate more bookings than a full-page ad in a travel magazine.”

Philip Chen, GMA Senior Consultant

The Queensland Glamping Operator Who Turned Mafengwo into a Booking Engine

Sarah Nguyen remembers the exact moment she decided something had to change. It was July 2023, and she was sitting in her glamping tent office at Starlight Escapes, her boutique glamping property outside Noosa in Queensland. The property was fully booked for the next three months, but only with Australian and New Zealand guests. The luxury tents she had designed with an international guest in mind were barely reaching anyone outside the Asia-Pacific neighborhood.

She had spent 18 months trying to attract Chinese guests through a local tour operator who promised group bookings. The groups did come, once in early 2023, 14 people who stayed two nights and complained that the menu had no Chinese food options. They left one Tripadvisor review and never came back. Sarah felt like she had failed them, and they had failed her expectations.

A friend suggested she talk to a Chinese digital marketing consultant in Brisbane. The conversation was short. The consultant told her the same thing she had been avoiding: she needed to be where Chinese travelers actually plan their trips, not on international platforms they rarely use. That meant Mafengwo and WeChat, specifically.

Sarah hired a developer to build a WeChat mini program for Starlight Escapes. The mini program was simple: a photo gallery of the tents and the surrounding bushland, a brief description in Mandarin, and a booking flow that accepted WeChat Pay. It took six weeks and cost AUD 3,200 to build. Then she submitted Starlight Escapes to Mafengwo’s business directory and began responding in Mandarin (with the help of a translator app) to the two existing reviews her property had accumulated from Chinese Australian guests.

The breakthrough came in October 2023. A Chinese travel blogger named Wei Jiaming, who had 90,000 Mafengwo followers and specialized in “hidden gem” Australian experiences, stayed for three nights and wrote a 2,000-word post about stargazing from the tent deck, the kangaroos at dawn, and the fact that you could book everything in Mandarin via WeChat. The post got 14,000 saves on Mafengwo in the first month.

Within six months, Chinese guests went from zero to 30% of total bookings at Starlight Escapes. They came, they shared photos online, they tagged the property on Xiaohongshu. The cycle became self-sustaining. Sarah added a Mandarin-language welcome pack and partnered with a nearby winery that also accepted WeChat Pay to offer a combined package.

By mid-2024, Starlight Escapes had a 4.8-star rating on Mafengwo with 47 reviews, and Sarah was turning away bookings in peak season. A world class experience delivered through the right channels, this strategy is perfect for boutique hotels and unique stays that offer something visually memorable and different from what Chinese tourists find at home.

How GMA Can Help

GMA helps Australian tourism businesses build the infrastructure and content strategy to attract Chinese visitors. Here is what we offer:

• Ctrip and Mafengwo listing setup: We create and optimize your presence on both platforms with Mandarin content, photos, and keyword strategy
• WeChat official account setup: We set up and manage your WeChat presence so Chinese travelers can find and contact you directly
• WeChat mini program development: We build simple, mobile-friendly booking and information mini programs in Mandarin with Chinese payment integration
• KOL campaign management: We identify and manage Chinese travel KOL partnerships to generate authentic content about your property or destination
• Douyin content strategy: We develop and publish short video content for Douyin that drives discovery and brand awareness among Chinese travelers planning trips to Australia
• Mandarin customer service support: We help you handle Chinese guest inquiries and communications professionally in Mandarin

Learn more at GMA’s China advertising page.

About GMA

Since 2012, GMA has worked with 500+ brands, destinations, and tourism businesses to build their presence in the Chinese market. We have helped Australian operators, European hotels, and Asian destinations create the digital presence they need to attract and convert Chinese travelers. Our team combines Chinese market expertise with hands-on platform knowledge across WeChat, Douyin, Ctrip, and Mafengwo. We know what works because we test it daily with real clients. Whether you are starting from zero or trying to scale an existing China strategy, we can help you build something that delivers measurable results, not just impressions.

About the author: Claire is a Digital Tourism Specialist at GMA. She has spent 6 years working with hotels, brands and destinations to attract Chinese travelers. She writes about what actually works in the Chinese market in 2026. Visit our services page to learn more.

Chinese Sources

文化和旅游部 (www.mct.gov.cn): China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism reports sustained growth in outbound tourism to Australia through 2024-2025, with official data showing that Australia ranks consistently among the top five long-haul destinations for Chinese FIT travelers seeking nature and lifestyle experiences.

携程 Ctrip (www.ctrip.com): Ctrip’s 2025 outbound tourism report highlights Australia as a top-performing destination for high-spend Chinese travelers, with bookings to Sydney, Melbourne, and Queensland growing by over 35% year-on-year compared to 2024 figures.