携程海外版上线“奇境中国”榜单 面向全球24个国家推出百项全球领先中国文旅体验

This article covers Ctrip's (Trip.com Group) new launch: a dual inbound travel ranking system rolled out to 24 countries worldwide on its overseas platform, which showcases 100 top-tier Chinese cultural and travel experiences. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. The ranking follows a "country + city" dual-track structure. The "Wonders of China" list selects 10 iconic, world-unique themed cultural and travel experiences by country; the "Top Picks for International Travelers" list ranks the most popular hotels, attractions and local cuisines among overseas visitors by city.

2. Inbound travel to China is seeing sustained growth. Official data shows that the number of inbound foreign visitors in the first half of 2026 increased by 20.4% year-over-year. Ctrip data indicates inbound travel orders rose 90% year-over-year in Q1, and summer travel orders from Europe to China jumped 275% year-over-year. Travel to China has become a trending topic on overseas social media.

3. This year, Ctrip also partnered with actor Jackie Chan to launch an inbound tourism initiative, rolling out drone marketing campaigns and themed promotional videos. This has significantly boosted the visibility of Chinese travel content and attracted more overseas visitors to China.

This article outlines the growth trajectory of China's inbound travel market, pointing to clear marketing and development directions for cultural and travel brands. Key insights are as follows:

1. On the consumption trend side, China's inbound travel is now on a high-growth trajectory. Visa-free policies have driven a sharp increase in inbound visitor numbers, and overseas travelers' interest in Chinese cultural tourism continues to rise. "China Cool" has become a hot trend overseas, with large unmet demand remaining in the market.

2. Brands can draw inspiration from Ctrip's playbook: partner with globally renowned cultural IPs and international stars for global content distribution, leverage overseas social media to expand brand reach, and gain precise exposure through Ctrip's overseas platform and authoritative rankings.

3. On the product side, brands need to optimize offerings to fit the needs of overseas travelers: improve multilingual services, foreign card payment support, and international hospitality capabilities to align with overseas consumption habits, and adapt to ranking criteria to secure more inbound customers and capitalize on the inbound travel growth dividend.

This article sorts out the latest developments in the inbound travel sector, offering opportunity alerts and practical guidance for sellers operating in the inbound travel space. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. Inbound travel is currently in a period of rapid growth. Visa-free policy adjustments have driven a 30.6% year-over-year increase in inbound visitor numbers, and travel orders to China from Europe have jumped 275% year-over-year. Overseas demand is growing rapidly, with particularly strong growth in long-haul markets such as Europe, creating abundant new opportunities.

2. Ctrip's newly launched dual ranking system serves as a new traffic channel. Sellers can optimize their products accordingly: hotels should prioritize improving foreign guest hospitality capabilities, multilingual services, and international payment options; attractions should upgrade multilingual ticketing, guided tour services, and booking convenience. Meeting the ranking criteria creates an opportunity to be featured on the list and gain valuable exposure.

3. The core pain points for current overseas travelers are language barriers and scattered information. Sellers that address these pain points head-on can build a competitive edge, acquire more overseas customers, and capture the dividend from the current round of inbound travel growth.

The rapid growth of China's inbound travel market has created new business opportunities for culture and tourism-related manufacturing enterprises. Key takeaways for factories are as follows:

1. In terms of product design and development: inbound travel growth has driven rising demand across multiple sectors including accommodation, attractions, cultural souvenirs, and catering infrastructure. Overseas travelers prefer products that align with international consumption habits while carrying distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics. Factories can adjust their design direction accordingly, developing products such as multilingual tour guide devices and cultural souvenirs tailored to overseas visitors' preferences.

2. In terms of business opportunities: Ctrip's ranking will gradually cover 100 Chinese inbound travel cities and partner with a large number of destinations and travel businesses. Factories can partner with these ranked merchants to expand their order channels.

3. In terms of digital transformation: factories can leverage data on overseas travelers from platforms such as Ctrip to identify preferences of visitors from different countries, adjust production and R&D strategies accordingly, improve product fit, and better capitalize on the inbound travel growth dividend.

As a culture and tourism-related service provider, you can gain insights on industry trends, pain points and solutions from this article. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. In terms of industry trends: China's inbound travel sector has transitioned from a phase of traffic growth to a phase of service upgrade. Overseas travelers' demand has shifted from "can I visit China" to "how do I enjoy my trip in China", driving a sharp increase in demand for authoritative, integrated information services that align with international visitors' perspectives. There is significant room for service upgrade across the industry.

2. The core pain points for current customers are that while China boasts abundant cultural and tourism resources, information is highly fragmented. Language barriers and inconsistent service standards also push up overseas travelers' decision-making costs, and existing services have failed to effectively address these issues.

3. Service providers can reference Ctrip's model: adopt a dual-track ranking system to integrate resources with an international narrative, develop ranking criteria aligned with overseas travelers' needs for different consumption scenarios, and distribute content through overseas social media to lower visitors' decision-making barriers and improve service experience.

This article introduces Ctrip's latest strategic布局 in the inbound travel space, offering valuable reference for all types of travel platforms. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. On current market demand: inbound travel is growing rapidly, and overseas travelers' demand for China travel information has shifted from fragmented social media content to authoritative, integrated travel references. Existing social media guides cannot meet this new demand, so platforms need to upgrade their products to adapt to new market needs.

2. Recommended best practices: build a "country + city" dual-track ranking system. National-level rankings highlight China's unique world-class cultural and tourism resources to build global awareness; city-level rankings focus on accommodation, sightseeing and dining after travelers arrive at their destination, with ranking criteria developed based on overseas travelers' needs. Platforms can also partner with cultural IPs and international celebrities for global marketing to expand reach.

3. Future operational direction: gradually expand the coverage of the ranking system, partner with more destination merchants, build a closed loop from content recommendation to booking, address issues of scattered information and inconsistent standards, and continuously optimize services to fit overseas travelers' needs.

This article presents the latest developments and new practices of China's inbound tourism industry, providing first-hand insights for industry researchers. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. New industry trends: China's inbound tourism has entered a period of rapid growth, with visa-free policies delivering strong positive momentum. Global interest in China's cultural and tourism resources continues to rise, and "China Cool" has emerged as a new hot topic on overseas social platforms. The inbound tourism industry has entered a new development stage.

2. New emerging industry challenges: after the rapid growth of inbound traffic, new structural challenges have emerged. Overseas travelers face pain points including information asymmetry, language barriers and high decision-making costs. The traditional fragmented information supply model can no longer adapt to new market demand, and the industry requires new supply-side models.

3. New business model innovation: Ctrip's "country + city" dual-track inbound travel ranking system is a new product innovation tailored to inbound travel demand. It builds an authoritative reference through resource integration, international narrative and data-driven ranking, and connects content to transaction through global marketing, offering a new researchable business model for the development of China's inbound tourism industry.