According to Tongcheng Travel, bookings for factory-tour products have increased by more than 36% year-on-year since the start of the 2026 summer travel season, with demand continuing to rise. Family travelers are the dominant group, accounting for 68% of all bookings.
Meanwhile, bookings among Gen Z travelers born after 2000 have grown 12% year-on-year, showing that younger travelers are also joining the trend of exploring factories.
In terms of travel patterns, industrial tourism is seeing both short-haul trips and longer city stays gain traction.
On one hand, more than 80% of factory tour bookings are concentrated within a three-hour travel range of cities, reflecting the popularity of weekend micro-getaways.
On the other hand, factories are increasingly becoming a key attraction shaping travelers’ choice of destination. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that more than 80% of travelers who include factory visits to their itineraries stay more than three days in a single city on average.
The factory-tourism trend is also making its way onto the travel lists of international visitors. From industrial heritage museums to fully operational modern manufacturing plants, an increasing number of industrial tourism sites are becoming popular destinations for overseas travelers.
According to HopeGoo, Tongcheng Travel’s international travel booking platform, bookings for factory-tour products among inbound travelers have surged more than ninefold year-on-year this summer, making factory tourism a new growth driver for inbound travel.
Beyond factory visits, international visitors are also heading to places such as Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei electronics market and Yiwu’s small commodity market for shopping and sightseeing. By combining a look at how China manufactures products with opportunities to buy them, travelers are creating a unique “Made in China” travel experience.
According to HopeGoo’s data, the destinations seeing the highest demand for hotels around factory-tour sites among inbound travelers this summer include Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Nanjing, Xi’an, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, and Jinhua. These cities combine well-developed industrial tourism resources and strong manufacturing bases, giving international visitors a wide range of ways to experience Chinese manufacturing firsthand.
