What do Chinese Tourists want to see in Spain ?

Thailand received over 6.7 million Chinese tourists in 2024. Japan welcomed more than 3 million. Malaysia hit 2.8 million. The competition for Chinese travelers in Asia has never been more intense, and the countries that are winning are doing very specific things right. If you run a hotel, a tour operation, or a hospitality business in Asia, this article will show you exactly what Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Korea are doing to attract Chinese tourists in 2026, and what lessons you can take for your own business.

The Starting Point: How Chinese Tourism Recovered Across Asia

Chinese outbound travel recovered strongly through 2023 and 2024. By 2025 total outbound trips had reached approximately 130 million, with Asia capturing the largest share by far. Short-haul Asian destinations were the first to recover because they are accessible, familiar, and offer strong value for Chinese travelers across all spending levels.

But the recovery was not equal across countries. Some, like Thailand and Japan, roared back to or above pre-pandemic levels. Others, like South Korea, faced political complications that slowed recovery. Vietnam and Indonesia emerged as new growth stories, attracting younger Chinese travelers looking for alternatives to the well-known destinations. The competitive picture in 2026 is more complex than it was in 2019, and the countries that are growing fastest are the ones that invested most deliberately in their China marketing strategies between 2022 and 2025. You can read more about which destinations Chinese travelers are choosing in our article on Chinese tourists in Thailand 2026.

Thailand: Volume and Accessibility

Thailand is the dominant player and it is not close. With over 6.7 million Chinese tourists in 2024, Thailand benefits from decades of familiarity, strong airline connectivity, visa-free access for Chinese nationals (permanent since 2024), and a tourism industry that has adapted deeply to Chinese preferences over many years.

What Thailand does right: WeChat Pay and Alipay are accepted almost universally in tourist areas from Bangkok street markets to Phuket hotel pools. Mandarin-speaking guides are easy to find. Chinese-language menus are standard in most tourist restaurants. Thai tourism businesses, even small ones, have a natural instinct for what Chinese guests need because they have been serving them for so long.

Thailand’s Tourism Authority (TAT) runs active Douyin and WeChat accounts with dedicated Chinese-language content. Their 2025 “Amazing Thailand” China campaign invested approximately 800 million THB (around $22 million USD) in digital China marketing, a figure that dwarfs most competing countries. The focus has been on new destination areas (Chiang Rai, Khao Yai, Kanchanaburi) to spread Chinese tourist flow beyond Bangkok and Phuket.

Japan: Premium Experience and Controlled Volume

Japan’s relationship with Chinese tourism in 2025-2026 is complicated. The yen weakened significantly through 2024-2025, making Japan extraordinarily good value for Chinese visitors whose purchasing power in JPY doubled compared to 2019. Chinese arrivals in 2024 reached over 3 million, with spend per visitor among the highest of any destination in Asia.

What Japan does right: the quality of the experience is unmatched. Japanese hospitality (omotenashi) naturally aligns with what Chinese HNW travelers want: attention to detail, cleanliness, privacy, and food quality. WeChat Pay is accepted at major department stores and tourist retail across Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Ctrip bookings for Japan hotels grew by over 80% in 2024.

Japan’s challenge is overtourism management: popular areas like Kyoto’s Arashiyama and the Fuji Five Lakes are under pressure. The Japanese government introduced tourist taxes and visitor caps at certain sites in 2024-2025, which has started to shift Chinese travelers toward less-visited regions: Tohoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido in shoulder seasons. Smart hospitality businesses outside of Tokyo and Kyoto are benefiting from this shift.

Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Korea: The Challengers

Malaysia welcomed approximately 2.8 million Chinese visitors in 2024, benefiting from the large Malaysian Chinese community, Chinese-language signage in many cities, and strong airline links. Kuala Lumpur and Penang are particularly popular. Malaysia’s Tourism Malaysia agency has invested heavily in WeChat and Douyin marketing targeting mainland Chinese travelers, positioning the country as an accessible destination with Chinese cultural comfort.

Indonesia is the growth story of the region. Bali continues to be a major draw, but in 2025-2026 Chinese travelers are increasingly exploring beyond Bali to Lombok, Komodo, and the Gili Islands. Indonesia introduced a visa-on-arrival simplification for Chinese nationals in 2024 and invested in Ctrip partnerships to promote lesser-known island destinations. Chinese bookings for Indonesia on Ctrip grew by 65% between 2023 and 2025.

Vietnam is capitalizing on its visa-free policy for Chinese nationals and its growing reputation as a budget-friendly destination with strong natural beauty. Hoi An, Ha Long Bay, and Da Nang are all growing fast with Chinese visitors. Vietnamese tourism businesses have been quick to adopt WeChat Pay and Alipay, and Douyin content about Vietnamese street food and landscapes performs very well with Chinese audiences. In 2026 Chinese tourists are increasingly choosing Vietnam for its combination of low cost, beautiful scenery, and good food, particularly for 3-5 day short breaks from major Chinese cities with direct flights.

South Korea had a complicated few years due to the THAAD political dispute and its aftermath, but 2024-2025 saw a genuine recovery. K-beauty, K-pop culture, and Korean food are powerful draws for younger Chinese tourists, and Seoul’s Hongdae and Myeongdong districts are enormously popular on Xiaohongshu. Korea introduced a fast-track e-visa for Chinese nationals in 2024, reducing processing time from 5 days to 24 hours, which removed a major friction point for independent travelers. Our Chinese outbound tourism strategy guide covers how to position your Asian tourism business against this competitive field.

Key Trends to Know in 2026

• Thailand remains the top Asian destination for Chinese tourists with over 6.7 million arrivals in 2024 and permanent visa-free access the key driver.
• Japan’s weak yen has made it extraordinary value for Chinese tourists, driving 80%+ growth in Ctrip bookings and above-average spend per visitor.
• Vietnam is emerging as a major short-break destination for Chinese travelers in southern China, with Ha Long Bay and Hoi An leading searches on Chinese platforms.
• Indonesia’s Bali is diversifying its Chinese market beyond the Seminyak strip, with Chinese travelers increasingly booking Komodo and Lombok experiences through Ctrip.
• South Korea’s K-culture pull remains strong among Chinese travelers under 35, with beauty, food, and entertainment tourism all growing year on year.
• Across the region, WeChat Pay and Alipay acceptance is increasingly a basic expectation rather than a differentiator, and businesses without it lose Chinese customers to competitors who have it.
• All six competing countries have active Douyin presences with dedicated Chinese-language content, meaning Asian tourism businesses without a Chinese digital strategy are competing blind.

What the Experts Say

“The competition for Chinese tourists in Asia in 2026 is playing out entirely on Chinese digital platforms. The countries and businesses that are winning are the ones posting consistently on Douyin, managing active WeChat accounts, and appearing at the top of Ctrip and Mafengwo searches. What is interesting is that a single boutique hotel in Kyoto or a dive operator in Bali can compete directly with a national tourism campaign if they create compelling Mandarin content. The platform treats everyone equally: if your content is good and specific, it finds an audience.” Jon Wang, GMA Head of Digital Strategy.

The Kyoto Boutique Hotel That Went from 12% to 45% Chinese Guests

Kenji Watanabe had run Sakura Machiya, a boutique hotel of 14 rooms in a restored townhouse in Kyoto’s Gion district, for six years. The property was genuinely special: original wooden beams, a small interior garden with a stone basin and maple tree, handmade breakfast served in lacquerware, and a location that was quiet enough to hear the neighbor’s shamisen practice through the wall on still evenings. Reviews from Western travelers were consistently excellent. Average occupancy was 74%.

But in 2023 Kenji noticed something specific in his booking data. Chinese guests represented only 12% of his total bookings, well below the 38% Chinese share of all Kyoto hotel bookings that the Kyoto Tourism Board was reporting. His property was not showing up on Ctrip properly. He had no WeChat presence. And the one Chinese guest who had written a review on TripAdvisor had mentioned that she wished she had been able to pay with WeChat Pay at the breakfast cafe nearby. Kenji had read it twice and then done nothing.

The turning point was a conversation with a Taiwanese travel agent who visited the hotel as a personal guest in October 2023. She told him directly: “Your hotel is exactly what Chinese travelers want. You are just invisible to them.” She spent 20 minutes showing him what Chinese travelers were writing about Kyoto machiya stays on Xiaohongshu and Mafengwo. The content was already there, generated by other guests, but it was not connected to any booking channel he could manage. He was losing bookings to word of mouth he could not track or build on.

Kenji made three decisions. First, he hired a part-time Mandarin-speaking assistant named Chen Mei, a Chinese student at Ritsumeikan University who had hospitality experience and good knowledge of Chinese social platforms. Second, he listed Sakura Machiya on Ctrip with Chen Mei writing all the Mandarin descriptions, including a detailed explanation of what a machiya is and why staying in one is different from a standard hotel. Third, he integrated WeChat Pay through a Japanese payment processor that supported the QR code system at his front desk and in the breakfast room.

Chen Mei then created a WeChat Official Account for the hotel and posted four Mandarin articles over the first month: a piece about the history of Gion and what makes the neighborhood special, a guide to Kyoto’s best small temples within walking distance of the hotel, a feature about the breakfast ingredients sourced from a local Nishiki Market supplier, and a photo essay about the garden across the four seasons. These were not generic “visit Kyoto” articles. They were specific to Sakura Machiya and written from the perspective of what a Chinese traveler would want to know before arriving.

Ctrip bookings started within three weeks of the listing going live. The first Chinese guest who arrived commented that she had read all four WeChat articles before booking and felt she already knew the hotel. She left a five-star Ctrip review that mentioned the Mandarin welcome letter, the WeChat Pay option, and Chen Mei’s help with a local restaurant recommendation. That review was read by hundreds of potential Chinese guests in the following months.

Six months after starting: Chinese guests were 29% of total bookings, up from 12%. By the 12-month mark, they represented 45%. Average length of stay for Chinese guests: 2.9 nights, compared to 2.1 nights for Western guests. Average spend per Chinese booking including extras: 38,200 JPY, compared to 31,500 JPY for Western bookings. Occupancy for the full year rose from 74% to 88%. This approach, works very well for boutique hotels where the property’s unique character is a natural match for what Chinese travelers seek on Xiaohongshu and Mafengwo.

“We did not change the hotel,” Kenji said. “We just made it possible for Chinese travelers to find us, understand us, and feel welcomed when they arrived. That was the whole strategy.” Chen Mei is now full-time and manages all Chinese digital marketing for the property. Kenji is already looking at a second machiya property with the same model in mind from day one.

How GMA Can Help You

GMA works with hospitality and tourism businesses across Asia to build effective Chinese market strategies. Here is what we offer for businesses in your position.

• Ctrip listing and optimization: We create or improve your Ctrip profile with professional Mandarin descriptions, photos formatted for the platform, and pricing structures that match Chinese booking expectations for your destination and category.
• WeChat Official Account setup and management: We register and manage your WeChat presence with Mandarin content about your property, local area guides, and booking information that Chinese travelers search for before they arrive.
• Douyin content strategy: We develop a content plan for your specific product, create Mandarin captions and hashtags, and manage consistent posting to build an audience of Chinese travelers actively planning trips to your destination.
• Mafengwo and Xiaohongshu presence: We set up and manage your profiles on the two Chinese platforms where travelers research and review experiences, including optimized Mandarin descriptions and photo sets.
• WeChat Pay and Alipay integration guidance: We help you understand the technical steps to accept Chinese mobile payments, which is an increasingly standard expectation for Chinese visitors across all Asian destinations.
• Chinese market competitive analysis: We analyze what your direct competitors in your destination are doing on Chinese platforms and identify the gaps where you can build an advantage quickly.

Explore GMA’s China advertising services to see the full range of support we provide for Asian tourism businesses.

About GMA

Since 2012, GMA has helped 500+ international brands enter and grow in the Chinese market. We specialize in digital marketing for tourism, hospitality, and lifestyle brands targeting Chinese consumers. Our team works across WeChat, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Ctrip, and Mafengwo to build visibility and drive bookings. We have offices in Shanghai and Paris and work with clients across 40 countries. We know what Chinese travelers want in 2026 because we work with them every day, on the platforms they actually use. Our tourism clients range from boutique lodges in Africa to national tourism boards in Europe and the Middle East.

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 and consumers. She writes about what actually works in the Chinese market in 2026. Want to know more? Visit our services page.

Useful Chinese Sources

文化和旅游部 Ministry of Culture and Tourism (www.mct.gov.cn): China’s official government body for tourism policy and statistics, including outbound travel data broken down by destination country. Essential for understanding how Chinese traveler volumes are shifting between Asian destinations year on year.

携程 Ctrip (www.ctrip.com): China’s largest online travel booking platform, where destination search trends, hotel demand, and booking growth data provide the clearest real-time picture of which Asian countries are winning the competition for Chinese travelers.