More Southeast Asian flock to China’s Chongqing thanks to social media

A brand new development is driving Southeast Asian vacationers to China’s Chongqing metropolis — viral social media clips of monorails operating by means of a residential constructing, buildings perched atop hilly terrain, and a pedestrian bridge on the thirteenth flooring.

Flight bookings from Southeast Asia to Chongqing elevated greater than sixfold through the Dragon Boat Competition vacation, which fell on Could 31 this yr, in contrast with the earlier yr, Chinese language on-line journey platform Fliggy instructed CNBC.

“In 2025 alone, we have captured a virtually 12-fold surge in demand for Chongqing, in comparison with demand for different cities,” mentioned Sarah Wan, Klook’s basic supervisor for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in an e-mail. Demand doubled for different well-liked cities comparable to Beijing and Shanghai, and tripled for Chengdu, she added.

Chongqing has captured on-line consideration for its duality — it is house to pure points of interest such because the Three Gorges and the Dazu Rock Carvings, and futuristic structure that impressed its nickname, “cyberpunk metropolis.”

That is partly as a result of younger adults are turning to social media for suggestions when planning their holidays, with 79% of millennial and Gen Z vacationers doing so, in accordance with Klook Travel Pulse research revealed in February.

That was the case for Ong Chong Yu, a 24-year-old undergraduate on the Nationwide College of Singapore, and his mates, who needed to go to town after it “blew up” on Douyin and TikTok for its “8D magic,” which refers back to the method buildings sit on the mountainous terrain of Chongqing, giving town a multi-dimensional look.

The Chinese language language and Chinese language research main, who’s on a pupil trade program in Beijing, visited Chongqing on a weekend journey in March. He mentioned he discovered town’s distinctive panorama most memorable.

“[It] takes a climb up and down the mountain to get from one street to a different, the primary flooring of 1 constructing is perhaps the fifteenth flooring of one other,” Ong mentioned.

Other than social media hype, an enchancment in facilities and a wide range of actions have contributed to town’s rising reputation.

The big selection of actions accessible for vacationers implies that “there’s something in Chongqing for everybody,” mentioned Edmund Ong, senior regional director of Southeast Asia at Journey.com, in an e-mail to CNBC.

“Older of us have lengthy loved Chongqing for its lovely surroundings, together with the Yangtze River and Three Gorges, whereas youthful vacationers have seen many locations there go viral on social media,” he added.

However it takes greater than good views to make a very good vacation.

Though Chongqing has grow to be extra crowded since undergraduate Ong’s final go to in 2018, “town’s crowd management is nice,” he mentioned, “so transferring round was fairly orderly, which I’m impressed by.”

The municipality has been specializing in making journey extra handy for vacationers, mentioned Gao Ling, director-general of the Chongqing Municipal Fee of Tradition and Tourism Growth, in a interview translated from Mandarin by CNBC.

The municipality has invested extra into the transport methods for these touring out and in of town. With extra choices to and from different main cities comparable to Beijing and Chengdu by way of air and prepare, town goals to make entry into Chongqing straightforward for vacationers, Gao mentioned in an interview with CNBC carried out in Mandarin.

Earlier this yr, Chongqing additionally established one-stop service facilities in main transit hubs comparable to its Jiangbei Worldwide Airport and Chongqing North railway station, Gao mentioned. The facilities present baggage storage and knowledge desks for vacationers.

Younger Southeast Asians could also be enticed to go to, partly due to the area’s proximity to China, Gao mentioned.

Amongst international locations in Southeast Asia, Trip.com has seen probably the most bookings to Chongqing from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which all get pleasure from visa-free journey to China. Equally, Klook has famous that vacationers from Singapore and Malaysia lead gross sales for excursions within the area, with vacationers from Thailand and Indonesia fueling demand.

The variety of lodge bookings to Chongqing from Thai vacationers has additionally risen greater than fivefold, in accordance with knowledge offered by Fliggy.

In line with the Klook Travel Pulse research research, mainland China is the highest “must-go vacation spot” for millennial and Gen Z vacationers — second solely to Japan. The nation’s youth enchantment will be attributed partly to cultural experiences comparable to themed photoshoots and dwell performances incorporating tune and dance, mentioned Elvis Yap, journey expertise and design planner for China at Singapore-based tour company Dynasty Journey.

Themed photoshoots, during which vacationers costume up in conventional outfits, have additionally blown up on social media, fueling demand, Yap mentioned. International and native vacationers alike publish pictures of themselves on social media, dressed up within the conventional Han clothes, full with a wig and heavy make-up, all of that are included within the service that vacationers buy.

One other well-liked instance is “gong yan,” a multi-course banquet meal and present, throughout which clients can costume up in conventional outfits. It is “much more dynamic,” with “excessive stage cultural arts” performances mixed with the eating expertise at an inexpensive value, Yap mentioned, citing the power of the Singapore greenback in opposition to the yuan.

However social media is not the one issue — hospitality in China has additionally improved, with extra enticing companies provided in motels and points of interest, he added.

“The opposite international locations in Asia need to be careful for the extent of competitors that China hospitality establishments are offering,” Yap mentioned.