International Hotels in China Should invest more in Digital Marketing
China’s tourism market in 2026 looks nothing like 2019. Outbound travel is back at full speed, and the travelers coming out of China are younger, more independent, and much harder to reach through old-school channels. If your hotel is still relying on a listing on one OTA and a translated brochure from 2018, this article is for you.
The outbound tourism market: where things stand in 2025-2026
Chinese outbound travel recovered fast after the borders reopened. By 2024, China had already sent over 130 million travelers abroad, according to the China Tourism Academy. The spending per trip has gone up too. The average Chinese tourist now spends close to $1,200 per outbound trip, driven largely by travelers in their 20s and 30s who book everything on their phone, read reviews on Xiaohongshu, and decide where to stay based on short videos on Douyin. Three market facts every hotel owner should know:
- In 2024, 78% of Chinese travelers used a mobile app to book their trip abroad (Ctrip annual report 2024).
- Xiaohongshu has over 300 million monthly active users, with travel being one of the top three content categories.
- Chinese tourists spend an average of 12 hours per week on social apps, well ahead of any other nationality (McKinsey China Consumer Report 2025).
- Hotels with verified accounts on Ctrip and Xiaohongshu see up to 35% more booking inquiries from Chinese travelers than those without.
If you want to reach this audience, you need to show up where they are. Here is how to do it.
How to promote your hotel to Chinese travelers
Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book): the platform that sells hotel stays
Xiaohongshu is one of the most powerful tools for hotels that want to reach Chinese travelers. Users come here for travel inspiration. They scroll through photos, read reviews from people they follow, and make booking decisions based on what they see. If your hotel is not on this platform, you are missing the conversation entirely.
What works on Xiaohongshu: high-quality photos of rooms, views, food, and nearby spots. Real guest reviews, not marketing copy. Authentic content beats polished ads every time on this platform. If a guest posts about your hotel and tags it, engage with them. Thank them, answer questions. That interaction builds more trust than any paid post.
KOL (Key Opinion Leader) partnerships also deliver strong results. A travel influencer with 200,000 followers sharing their stay at your hotel can generate hundreds of booking inquiries in 48 hours. I have seen it work for a boutique hotel in Bali that had zero Chinese presence before. Three months after one KOL post on Xiaohongshu their Chinese bookings went from 2 per month to 40. That is not marketing magic, that is just showing up on the right platform. Learn more about our Xiaohongshu marketing services.
Baidu SEO: get found before anyone else does
The first step to getting Chinese consumers to choose your brand is to build a good reputation online. In China, that means Baidu, not Google. Chinese travelers search for hotels, read reviews and check ratings on Baidu before booking. If your website does not appear on the first page of Baidu results for your target keywords, you are invisible to a huge part of your potential market.
You need to select keywords that reflect what your hotel offers. “Luxury hotel with mountain view” or “family hotel near historical center” in Chinese characters, hosted on a server that Baidu can actually index. An English-language site hosted in Europe will not rank on Baidu. That is just how it works. For a full SEO approach for your hotel in China, see the services we offer at GMA.
Beyond ranking, you need to keep the content updated. Blog articles in Chinese on topics like “best things to do near our hotel” or “guide to the local market” bring organic traffic and position your property as a helpful, trustworthy brand.
PR: build credibility that lasts
PR in China means getting credible third parties to talk about your hotel. That includes Chinese travel media, popular blogs, and KOL content. It is not paid advertising. The value is in the legitimacy it creates. A mention in a respected travel outlet or a positive write-up from a trusted travel blogger carries more weight than any banner ad you could run.
PR content stays online. A good article written about your hotel in 2025 will still drive bookings in 2027. That is the difference between renting attention (ads) and owning a reputation.
WeChat: where the booking conversation actually happens
WeChat has over 1.3 billion monthly active users as of 2025. For hotels this platform is not just a communication tool, it is a complete customer journey in one app. You can run your official account, send newsletters to subscribers, handle customer service questions, accept bookings and process payments with WeChat Pay. All in one place.
Chinese travelers expect to be able to reach you on WeChat. If your hotel has no official account, no QR code, no WeChat Pay, they will book somewhere else. It is that straightforward. Learn more about WeChat marketing for hotels.
WeChat Moments ads let you target users by age, location, interests and spending habits. Hotels in tourist destinations have run targeted campaigns to Chinese travelers during Golden Week and Chinese New Year with strong results. The targeting is more specific than almost any other platform, which keeps costs reasonable for smaller properties.
Douyin: short video drives decisions fast
KOLs on Douyin (China’s TikTok) have changed how Chinese travelers discover hotels abroad. A 60-second video of a hotel room with a stunning view, a pool at sunset, or a local restaurant recommendation can reach millions of potential guests in days. The format is native to how younger Chinese consumers make travel decisions.
The key is choosing the right KOL for your property. A luxury ski resort needs a different profile than a budget beach hotel. We handle KOL selection and campaign management for hotels working in the Chinese market, so if you need help with this reach out directly.
KOLs allow companies to position their brand and reach a wide audience fast. They are far cheaper than celebrity endorsements and their followers trust them because they have built genuine credibility over time. When a KOL’s fans trust them, a recommendation about your hotel lands differently than an ad. That is word-of-mouth at scale.
Quick comparison: digital channels for hotels targeting Chinese travelers
| Platform | Best for | Average monthly users | Key action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xiaohongshu | Inspiration, reviews, brand image | 300M+ | Create official account, post visuals, engage KOLs |
| Douyin | Video discovery, young travelers | 750M+ | Short videos, KOL partnerships, paid campaigns |
| Communication, booking, loyalty | 1.3B+ | Official account, customer service, WeChat Pay | |
| Baidu SEO | Search traffic, credibility | 600M+ monthly searches | Chinese-hosted website, keyword optimization |
| Ctrip / Mafengwo | OTA bookings, reviews | 400M+ registered users | Complete listing in Mandarin, respond to reviews |
External sources
For further reading on the Chinese outbound travel market: Ctrip Outbound Travel Report 2024 and Statista: Travel and tourism in China.
How GMA helps hotels reach Chinese travelers
Douyin
GMA produces and manages Douyin campaigns for hotels, from finding the right KOLs to handling content production and performance reporting. We have run campaigns for properties across Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East with measurable results in booking inquiries from China. Learn more at our Douyin marketing page.
Xiaohongshu (RED)
We set up and manage official brand accounts on Xiaohongshu, create content adapted to the platform’s visual style, and connect hotels with relevant travel KOLs. Our team handles everything in Mandarin so nothing gets lost in translation.
From setting up your official account to running Moments ad campaigns and managing Chinese-language customer service, GMA covers the full WeChat scope for hotels. We also integrate WeChat Pay to remove friction from the booking process. See all our services at chinesetouristagency.com/our-services.
Olivier Verot is the founder of GMA, a digital marketing agency in Shanghai. He has been in China since 2008 and spends most of his time helping Western brands not make expensive mistakes in the Chinese market.
