Chongqing, China.
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A brand new development is driving Southeast Asian vacationers to China’s Chongqing metropolis — viral social media clips of monorails working via 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 throughout the Dragon Boat Competition vacation, which fell on Could 31 this 12 months, in contrast with the earlier 12 months, Chinese language on-line journey platform Fliggy advised CNBC.
“In 2025 alone, we have captured an almost 12-fold surge in demand for Chongqing, in comparison with demand for different cities,” mentioned Sarah Wan, Klook’s normal supervisor for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in an e mail. Demand doubled for different common cities equivalent to Beijing and Shanghai, and tripled for Chengdu, she added.
Chongqing’s enchantment
Chongqing has captured on-line consideration for its duality — it is dwelling 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 response to Klook Journey Pulse analysis printed in February.
That was the case for Ong Chong Yu, a 24-year-old undergraduate on the Nationwide College of Singapore, and his buddies, who needed to go to the 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 the town a multi-dimensional look.
The Chinese language language and Chinese language research main, who’s on a pupil change program in Beijing, visited Chongqing on a weekend journey in March. He mentioned he discovered the 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 likely to be the fifteenth flooring of one other,” Ong mentioned.
Other than social media hype, an enchancment in facilities and quite a lot of actions have contributed to the town’s rising reputation.
The wide selection of actions accessible for vacationers signifies 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 people 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 turn out to be extra crowded since undergraduate Ong’s final go to in 2018, “the town’s crowd management is nice,” he mentioned, “so shifting 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 Improvement, in a interview translated from Mandarin by CNBC.
The municipality has invested extra into the transport programs for these touring out and in of the town. With extra choices to and from different main cities equivalent to Beijing and Chengdu through air and prepare, the town goals to make entry into Chongqing straightforward for vacationers, Gao mentioned in an interview with CNBC performed in Mandarin.
Earlier this 12 months, Chongqing additionally established one-stop service facilities in main transit hubs equivalent to its Jiangbei Worldwide Airport and Chongqing North railway station, Gao mentioned. The facilities present baggage storage and data 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 nations in Southeast Asia, Journey.com has seen probably the most bookings to Chongqing from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which all take pleasure in 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 resort bookings to Chongqing from Thai vacationers has additionally risen greater than fivefold, in response to knowledge offered by Fliggy.
China’s rising reputation
However the hype is not confined to Chongqing — journey demand is rising throughout cities in mainland China.
Based on the Klook Journey Pulse analysis 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 may be attributed partly to cultural experiences equivalent to themed photoshoots and reside performances incorporating music and dance, mentioned Elvis Yap, journey expertise and design planner for China at Singapore-based tour company Dynasty Journey.
Themed photoshoots, by which vacationers costume up in conventional outfits, have additionally blown up on social media, fueling demand, Yap mentioned. Overseas and native vacationers alike publish photographs 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 common 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 reasonably priced value, Yap mentioned, citing the power of the Singapore greenback towards the yuan.
However social media is not the one issue — hospitality in China has additionally improved, with extra enticing companies provided in resorts and points of interest, he added.
“The opposite nations in Asia should be careful for the extent of competitors that China hospitality establishments are offering,” Yap mentioned.
