Chinese Tourists in 2026: How Travel Behavior Changed and What Brands Must Do

In 2017, the insight was that Chinese tourists were moving beyond the stereotypical patterns of group tours and duty-free shopping toward more independent, experience-driven travel. In 2026, that transition is complete. The Chinese tourist who does group package tours and spends exclusively in duty-free shops still exists but is no longer the defining profile of Chinese outbound tourism. The defining profile in 2026 is the FIT (Free Independent Traveller): researched, selective, experience-driven, and deeply connected to Xiaohongshu throughout the entire trip.

Chinese Outbound Tourism in 2026: The Recovery and the New Normal

Chinese outbound tourism recovered to near pre-pandemic levels by mid-2025 and has resumed growth in 2026. The consumer who returned to international travel after the 2020–2022 pause is different from the consumer who last traveled in 2019: more selective about destinations, more focused on quality experiences over quantity of purchases, and more dependent on Xiaohongshu for every phase of trip planning.

The major luxury shopping destinations (Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore) have all seen Chinese visitor numbers recover, but the purchasing behavior has shifted. Chinese tourists who in 2019 made systematic luxury purchases across multiple categories are in 2026 making more considered purchases: fewer items, higher average spend per item, more focus on products that are genuinely unavailable or significantly cheaper in the destination versus Chinese domestic retail (as the price gap has narrowed for many luxury categories).

How Chinese Tourists Plan Their Trips in 2026

Xiaohongshu has replaced travel guidebooks, travel agencies, and most travel blogs as the primary trip planning resource for Chinese independent travelers. Before visiting a city, Chinese tourists read dozens of Xiaohongshu posts about the city’s shopping destinations, restaurant recommendations, cultural sites, and practical logistics. The brands and stores that appear credibly and frequently in this content get placed on the itinerary. Those that do not appear are not considered.

The implications for fashion and luxury brands are specific and actionable. Creator-generated Xiaohongshu content tagged at physical store locations functions as an ongoing, search-indexed recommendation that reaches planning travelers months or years after the post was published. A post about the in-store experience at a flagship, tagged with the store address and the brand name, appears in search results when a Chinese tourist searches for shopping recommendations in that city.

Our Xiaohongshu team builds location-tagged creator content programs for brands with physical retail presence, generating the discovery content that reaches Chinese tourists at the planning phase.

In-Destination Brand Strategy for Chinese Visitors

For fashion and luxury brands in tourist destinations, the in-store experience with Chinese visitors requires specific preparation. WeChat Pay and Alipay acceptance is the absolute baseline: a Chinese tourist who cannot pay with their preferred method has a notably poor experience. Mandarin-speaking staff, or at minimum a WeChat contact for the store that a Mandarin-speaking staff member monitors, is expected at premium stores in high-Chinese-traffic locations.

The in-store moments that generate organic Chinese social content are enormously valuable: a photogenic installation, a branded packaging moment, a personalization service. Chinese tourists who create Xiaohongshu or Douyin content about a store visit are providing the brand with the most credible form of travel recommendation content available. Brands that design their stores to generate this content are building their Chinese tourist acquisition on autopilot. Our KOL agency also manages dedicated travel creator programs for brands wanting to generate high-quality Chinese content about their international locations.

Claire Verot is China marketing strategist at Fashion China Agency. Connect on LinkedIn.

Sources: FCA: Chinese FIT Travellers 2026 | FCA: Wealthy Young Chinese Consumers 2026