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Summer 2025 China Outbound Travel Trends: Self-Drive and Cruise Vacations Surge on Social Media
As China’s outbound travel gains strong momentum in 2025, young travelers are shifting toward more personalized and experience-led journeys. According to Ctrip, summer visa applications this year surged by over 10% year-on-year—the highest in the past three years. while long-haul outbound travel to Europe saw visa requests soar by more than 80%1.
What’s behind this wave? Social media platforms in China see a growing desire for meaningful exploration. Young travelers now favor self-drive road trips (自驾) and cruise vacations (邮轮) that offer greater autonomy, flexibility, and opportunities for unique storytelling.
What’s Trending in Summer 2025?
Self-Drive Road Trip on the Rise
Ctrip’s data forecasts a 60% increase in outbound road trip this summer2. Rental bookings among Gen Z have surged 70%, followed by 32% growth for post-90s and 23% for post-80s2. This shift highlights a growing appetite for independent travel, particularly among the digitally native generations.
Cruise Travel Goes Mainstream
Data from SCMP reveals bookings for cruise trips have soared 60% compared to 20243, driven mainly by graduates and multigenerational families seeking luxury with flexibility.
China’s Social Media: The Key to Travel Marketing
On various China’s social media platforms niche hashtags such as:
- #多巴胺自驾 (Dopamine Driving)
- #宠物友好自驾 (Pet-friendly Trips)
- #野奢Glamping自驾 (Wild Luxury Glamping)
- #冷门小城揭秘 (Hidden Gems of Cities)
have boosted seeding efficiency by 38%2. Meanwhile, cruise-related content continues to trend across platforms like RedNote (Xiaohongshu) and Bilibili, sparking interest and expanding consumer intent3.
For brands looking to capture this new wave of China’s experience-driven travelers, social media platforms such as RedNote, Douyin, and WeChat are perfect to build emotional resonance through storytelling, lifestyle content, and influencer-driven campaigns. These platforms are key to inspiring action at every phase, from awareness to booking.
Partner with iClick to Unlock Summer 2025 Opportunities
At iClick Interactive, we help global brands connect with China’s evolving outbound travelers through data-driven social media campaigns tailored to high-intent audiences.
Get in touch to explore how we can support your next travel campaign targeting the Chinese market.
Source:
1 暑期出境游火爆：携程办签量创三年新高
2 暑期租车自驾游趋势指南
3 How young Chinese travellers are fuelling a cruise ship holiday boom
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