According to data from China’s National Immigration Administration, from January to August this year, 15.89 million foreign nationals entered China visa-free, accounting for 62.1% of all inbound foreign visitors—a 52.1% year-on-year increase. In total, this means approximately 25.59 million foreign entries into China during the first eight months of the year.
Meanwhile, the growing two-way flow of Hong Kong residents traveling north and mainland visitors driving south has begun reshaping hotel service models and product strategies across the region.
In November, at TravelDaily China’s Digital Intelligence Conference 2025 (Greater Bay Area edition), TravelDaily CEO Charlie Li, Dossen Group Executive Director and CEO of its High-end Innovation Division Wei Wu, and Regal Hotels International Senior Vice President of Operations Qinhui Huang joined a panel titled “How should hotels welcome guests from all directions amid a cross-border travel boom?” The discussion examined shifting needs of mainland travelers, Hong Kong–Macau visitors, and international tourists, and explored how hotels can upgrade products, services, and SOPs to better serve diverse guest segments.
Wei Wu highlighted: “We operate more than 2,700 hotels nationwide. In 2024, we received over 1.1 million foreign guests, and this year the number is expected to reach between 1.2 and 1.3 million. I initially assumed our higher-end hotels would host more international guests, but the data surprised us—the largest share of foreign visitors actually stayed at our budget hotels.”
As for source markets, Wu noted that most foreign guests came from Southeast and South Asia, with India topping the list, followed by Thailand, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries. They were trailed by North America and South America. The average length of stay for international guests was relatively short—about 1.6 days.
From a marketing perspective, Huang noted that TikTok is immensely popular overseas—whether in the U.S., Europe, or the Middle East and is widely used by young people. “We’ve been exploring how to leverage TikTok for content distribution. Since TikTok videos typically run for only 30 to 45 seconds, our focus is to distill the value of our hotels and of Hong Kong into concise, compelling short-form content.”
For content creation, they use AI tools and also collaborate with production teams from partners and travel agencies. The resulting videos are distributed across TikTok, Xiaohongshu, and the hotel group’s mini-program channels.
He emphasized that marketing should not focus solely on output metrics such as view counts. What really matters is the outcome—whether such content can shift guests’ booking behaviors. “Promotion only matters when it changes habits,” he said.
