For the 200th edition of the Chinese Tourism Newsletter: launch of an AI conversational avatar: ask your questions in English, French, or Chinese!
On the occasion of the 200th edition of the Chinese Tourism Newsletter, I would like to extend my best wishes for 2025, thank you for your trust as we have reached 1,000 subscribers, and introduce a new AI conversational avatar.
This conversational avatar, Smalk AI, launched by Wytand (see above an interview with its co-founder, Kristofer Moisan), will allow you to ask me, 24/7, in French, English, or Chinese, detailed questions about Chinese tourism since 2016 (trends and annual profiles of Chinese tourists, travel retail, AI, sustainable tourism). You can ask 3 questions per day (https://smalk.me/chat/sebastien-lion/) and, if you register, you will receive 50 free credits. I will also be happy to offer you a discussion about our services, including conferences, training, and operational consulting for luxury and beauty brands, as well as destinations targeting the Chinese market.
The key points of this 200th edition of Chinese tourism newsletter are:
1) What will be the profile of Chinese tourism in 2025?
The profile of the Chinese tourist in 2025 shows significant changes compared to previous years, influenced by demographic, technological, and consumption preferences shifts. The Chinese tourist of 2025 is characterized by their autonomy, a penchant for luxury and customization, a commitment to health and sustainability, and a strong integration of digital technology in all phases of their travel experience.
Young and Independent: Generation Z and young Chinese millennials are becoming the main drivers of the outbound tourism market (the average age of the Chinese tourist decreased from 38 years in 2017 to 32/34 in 2023). This age group prefers independent travel (group travel has massively declined, except for a rebound in 2023) over traditional organized tours, seeking authentic and cultural experiences.
Seeking Flexibility and Spontaneity: A large proportion of Chinese travelers prefer to book their trips at short notice, often within the month before departure. This trend is fueled by last-minute deals and appealing content on social media platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin.
Douyin (抖音): The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin is a platform for sharing short videos that is very popular among the youth. It has high potential for virality thanks to its captivating visual content. Its use in tourism is perfect for showcasing attractive destination videos, creating themed challenges or hashtags, and collaborating with influencers to reach a young audience.
Ctrip: A comprehensive travel service platform offering bookings for flights, hotels, and transportation. Its mini-program makes these services readily accessible within WeChat, catering especially to spontaneous travelers.
Qunar: Similar to Ctrip, Qunar provides extensive travel booking services and is favored for its competitive pricing and variety of travel options.
Huazhu Hotels: This mini-program allows for direct booking at Huazhu’s numerous hotel brands across China, integrating services like room selection and online check-in.
2) Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu), one of the symbols of the Chinese tourism in 2025.
Many tourism businesses and destinations use Xiaohongshu to reach the Chinese market, developing targeted marketing strategies to engage this dynamic audience. Ideal for content marketing based on recommendations and authentic experiences. Little Red Book, also known as Xiaohongshu, has become an influential platform in Chinese tourism, especially for Gen Z. This social network combines elements of Instagram and Pinterest and is primarily used to share experiences and reviews of products and destinations. Xiaohongshu is particularly popular for several reasons:
Authenticity of Reviews: Users share real travel experiences and practical advice, attracting those seeking reliable and personal information.
Influence of KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders): Influencers on Xiaohongshu have a significant impact on their followers, often guiding travel decisions through their recommendations and attractive visual content.
Targeting Young Consumers: The platform is very popular among young urban Chinese who are often looking for new and unique travel experiences.
E-commerce: Xiaohongshu also allows users to directly purchase products or services related to travel, facilitating travel planning and execution.
Highlighting Lesser-Known Destinations: Xiaohongshu users tend to explore and share content about less traditional destinations, which can influence travel trends and open new markets for tourism.
Advantages: As mentioned earlier, Xiaohongshu is ideal for sharing authentic travel experiences and product reviews thanks to its trusted community.
Use in Tourism: Excellent for travel recommendations based on personal experiences, ideal for targeting mainly young, urban women.
An ideal tool for content marketing based on recommendations and authentic experiences.?
3) Strong signs of recovery in Chinese tourism for the Chinese New Year on January 29, 2025.
?- Hotels: up to a 40% decrease (India, South Africa, and Mexico)
- Airlines: Decrease between 12% and 20% (Tokyo, Cairo, and Ho Chi Minh) are increasing their international routes, offering more options and convenience for travelers (China Eastern)
- Visa-free destinations very attractive: Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore
- Increase in bookings for France in 2025 vs 2019: easing of travel restrictions, strong pent-up demand, improved air connectivity are the main reasons, along with the first results from the Jo effect and the reopening of Notre Dame?
4) Travel retail, the cornerstone of this recovery in Chinese tourism.
In the retail sector in Asia, Chinese consumers play a predominant role in several key countries:
Japan: Retail in Japan is strongly influenced by Chinese consumers, particularly in the areas of luxury goods, electronics, and cosmetics. The phenomenon of "bakugai" or explosive buying describes the massive purchasing of Japanese products by Chinese tourists, drawn by the quality and authenticity of the products as well as tax benefits such as duty-free shopping. The pandemic slowed this trend, but with the recovery of tourism, Chinese consumer spending in Japan is resuming, supported by favorable exchange rates and upcoming major events.
South Korea: In South Korea, Chinese consumers have a notable influence on the luxury market and duty-free products. Factors include accessibility via direct flights, the popularity of Korean pop culture (Hallyu), and the recognized quality of products. The pandemic prompted retailers to expand their online presence, but recovery is underway with the easing of visa conditions and renewed interest in Korean products.
Thailand: The retail market in Thailand is also marked by the impact of Chinese consumers, with a focus on health products, crafts, and cosmetics. Chinese brands, such as the Samanea group, play a significant role in providing competitive products. With Chinese tourism being a major source of revenue, Thai retailers are adapting by offering personalized services, especially for the Chinese New Year, a period of high commercial activity.
Each of these countries is adapting its strategies to maximize the benefits from the influx of Chinese consumers, taking into account the recovery of tourism and changing consumer preferences in a post-pandemic context.
If you would like to learn more about Chinese travel retail in 2025 in Japan, South Korea, or Thailand: [email protected]
5) Franco-Chinese cultural news: Cultur’Export China.
Immersion à Shanghai du 9 au 13 décembre ??
Immersion in Shanghai from December 9 to 13 ??
Bpifrance,, as part of its Cultur’Export program, has supported a delegation of eight French companies from the cultural and creative industries in Shanghai. These companies, representing various sectors such as live entertainment, architecture, communication, design, audiovisual, and heritage, have the mission to promote French expertise. (BREAKFIRST, SYLVAIN PIERRE JEAN, ARTISANS D'IDéES , DIRECTO PROD, Avesta Group - Connecting cultures and people, ZIONSAY | Cultural & Luxury Communication Agency, Production Type et Streetsmile Entertainment).
This initiative aims to meet the growing demand for French cultural products in China. The delegation led by Aurélie MESNIL was welcomed at the residence of France in Shanghai, where the Consul General of France, Joan Valadou 王度, emphasized the importance of this mission in strengthening cultural and economic ties between France and China. The Cultur’Export program is a component of the France 2030 strategy, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aiming to support the internationalization of French companies. The purpose of this immersion is to offer companies a unique opportunity to understand the Chinese market, meet local stakeholders, and explore new opportunities, with a second visit planned for June 2025.
6) AI and Tourism News: Perplexity Partners with Tripadvisor for More Accurate Hotel Searches
Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, has integrated Tripadvisor data to enhance hotel searches. This update allows users to access more detailed results, including explanatory summaries, images, ratings, and reviews directly from Tripadvisor. Before this improvement, Perplexity only offered a basic list of hotels, but now each hotel is presented with comprehensive information about its highlights, such as location or service quality, based on traveler reviews.
This collaboration is part of Tripadvisor's strategy to stay competitive in the face of the growing influence of AI tools. The results are regularly updated to ensure their relevance. In the future, this partnership could extend to other services, such as restaurants and tourist activities, thus enriching the travel planning experience. While this feature is available on the Perplexity website, it is not yet accessible in France.
7) Interview with Kristofer Moisan, co-founder of Wytland, who launched Smalk AI.
After co-founding Wytland (Web3 x Tourism Studio), we recently launched Smalk AI, a solution aimed at valuing, protecting, and monetizing the content of creators and publishers in tourism for LLMs, AI Search, and AI Agents.
1) Do you agree with Nicolas Dufourcq that AI will help reinvent tourism (see Chinese tourism newsletter 198)?
Kristofer MOISAN : Yes, I am convinced that AI will have a massive impact on tourism, both on the consumer and business sides, especially through process automation and service improvement. A simple yet crucial example is instant translation (text and voice) for tourists. This eliminates language barriers and significantly improves the customer experience.
For businesses, the benefit is also enormous. Previously, they had to invest significant amounts to translate their content into multiple languages. With AI, this becomes affordable and instantaneous, allowing for faster and more global market entry.
Regarding the management of tourist flows or the limitation of carbon consumption, it is more complex to combine AI and sustainability. The energy consumption associated with the manufacture, maintenance, and use of AI systems remains a major challenge. However, solutions are emerging, such as less energy-intensive models or the optimization of tourist flows to reduce environmental impacts.
2) What are the major American and Chinese AI innovations that you think are poised to transform the tourism market?
Kristofer Moisan: Undoubtedly, the paradigm shift in online search. The rise of "Answer Engines" and "AI Agents" completely redefines how consumers, particularly Gen Z, interact with information. They now prefer direct and contextualized responses over traditional lists of links.
This disrupts brand strategies regarding visibility and ranking, especially during the "discovery" phase. In 2025, the key topic is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): how to ensure that my tourism brand is mentioned by tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews when a consumer asks, for instance, "What to do in Paris?". This innovation forces companies to rethink their content creation and distribution approach to stay competitive.
3) Do you think that incorporating AI into the tourism sector could enhance the tourist experience and also strengthen France's attractiveness as a leading tourist destination?
Kristofer Moisan: It's not an option; it's a necessity. The United States has already integrated AI experts into their tourism institutions. Every aspect of the tourist experience – welcoming travelers, instant responses, translation, mobility, personalized information – will be directly or indirectly impacted by AI.
France must adopt a national AI tourism strategy (poke Atout France), but also deploy solutions tailored to territories and local destinations. The challenge is to support professionals, especially those in small structures, who often lack the time and resources to quickly access these tools. This could significantly enhance France's attractiveness by modernizing its services while meeting tourists' expectations.
4) Following your involvement in my course at IREST Sorbonne, where you presented case studies on immersive gaming and AI conversational avatars, what do you think about how Gen Z apprehends and uses AI? What are the student projects that particularly interested you? What do you think about the role of AI in the development of sustainable tourism?
Kristofer Moisan: Gen Z, now the largest purchasing power in tourism, uses AI massively. About 80% of them turn to AI, especially for quick searches and instant responses. Their attention window, limited to 10 seconds like on Instagram or TikTok, forces brands to adapt to this new reality.
Regarding sustainable tourism, AI can play a key role. For example, AI Search can highlight eco-friendly offers that were invisible with old Google algorithms. These new capabilities allow SMEs and other players in sustainable tourism to gain visibility and reach a broader audience. This opens a promising path for promoting environmentally respectful tourism.
5) Wytland already collaborates with French destinations. Could you outline the main aspects of this collaboration and introduce Wytland?
Kristofer Moisan: Yes, we have collaborated extensively with destinations in France to attract and retain the new generation of consumers (Gen Z). I want to thank our partners for their trust and risk-taking.
With Wytland, we have worked on gamification and visitor retention through innovative 3D websites. With Smalk, we adopt a more pragmatic and concrete approach. Our goal is to answer a critical question for tourism professionals: how to prioritize my brand, offers, and content in AI service responses?
We offer a turnkey solution that simplifies this process for local players. This is a new step to help the sector adapt to the profound transformations induced by AI. More to come soon...